We present a framework to evaluate the impact of digital music distribution. We set up a representative model that enables the comparative static analysis. We then interpret two empirical observations about the music industry, the sales decline and the price constancy, and fit the model to these...

This paper addresses reasons for innovation. Innovation requires resources to transform new ideas into products/services to be sold in the market and diffused in society. Yet in the earlier stage of innovation process uncertainty always prevails both technologically and economically. There is no...

This study aims to investigate the innovation process in services firms. As there are increasing contributions of service sectors to the economies of both developed and developing countries, there are calls for detailed studies of innovation in service firms. While the arguments on typologies of...

Culture is becoming increasingly important in determining the competitiveness of firms in international business. Perlmutter first presented variables that focused on the primary attitudes among international executives, allowing an understanding of how cultural aspects affect the success and...

This paper examines the structure and the evolution of the patents declared as essential for three major technical standards in information technology (MPEG2, DVD and W-CDMA). These standards have many essential patents, which are owned by many firms with different interests. Many patents have...

We provide an economic analysis of two types of research exemptions: (1) experimentation and research on the patented subject matter, and (2) academic (or non-commercial) research with the patented invention. We find that exemption for research on improving or inventing-around the subject matter...

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This paper aims at exploring a mechanism of new business development. To understand how a business develops, we move our analytical focus from the level of a focal business to the level of the "business ecosystem," a collection of related businesses and institutions. We pay special attention to...