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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 turns 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.
List 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
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.
