Digital Economics: How Information Technology Has Transformed Business Thinking

by Richard McKenzie

Overview

The digitization of such traditional goods as books, music, and movies, in combination with traditional digital productions like software, has given rise to new twists and turbans in economic arguments. The primary reasons for these digital-led developments in economic theory are that digital goods often exhibit network effects—consumer benefits that grow with the spreading use of certain goods—and that digital products often have low or negligible reproduction costs. McKenzie describes how the advent of digital goods has forced changes in firms' production and pricing strategies, and how it has led to the reassessment of an array of public policies, from privacy to piracy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781567206449
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/30/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.81(d)

About the Author

RICHARD B. MCKENZIE is the Walter B. Gerken Professor of Enterprise and Society in the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Irvine, where he teaches courses for MBA students on microeconomics for managers, managing organizational incentives, and digital economics. He is also a regular columnist for Investor's Business Daily.

Table of Contents

Preface
The Spread of 1's and 0's in the World
The Productivity Paradox
Digital Costs and Production Choices
Firm Sizes and Disruptive Technologies
Network Effects
Tipping and Path Dependency
Switching Costs
Emailing and Surfing in the Workplace
Intellectual Property Rights
Piracy and Privacy
Antitrust
Selected Bibliography
Index