Digital goods and the new economy
By: Danny Quah.
Contributors: London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance.
Series: [Discussion paper ;; no. 563]; Discussion paper (London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance : Online) ;; no. 563.
Publisher: Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science
Published: 2003
Place of publication: [London]
Language: eng
Format: Electronic resource
Subjects: Information technology -- Economic aspects.
Description: "Digital goods are bitstrings, sequences of 0s and 1s, which have economic value. They are distinguished from other goods by five characteristics: digital goods are nonrival, infinitely expansible, discrete, aspatial, and recombinant. The New Economy is one where the economics of digital goods importantly influence aggregate economic performance. This Article considers such influences not by hypothesizing ad hoc inefficiencies that the New Economy can purport to resolve, but instead by beginning from an Arrow-Debreu perspective and asking how digital goods affect outcomes. This approach sheds light on why property rights on digital goods differ from property rights in general, guaranteeing neither appropriate incentives nor social efficiency; provides further insight into why Open Source Software is a successful model of innovation and development in digital goods industries; and helps explain how geographical clustering matters"--London School of Economics web site.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Title from summary page as viewed on 1/6/2005.
Also available in print.
System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.