Abstract This paper develops a theoretical framework to discuss the positive role of imitative works where creators often have private information about their creative abilities and may need outside investment. Within this framework, we consider the impact of three types of copyright protection...

Abstract This paper examines the effect of mobile number portability (MNP) on own- and cross-price elasticities. We use quarterly data for 27 mobile operators in seven Sub-Saharan Africa countries between 2010Q4 and 2014Q4 to estimate a differentiated products demand model. We find that the...

Abstract We use data from the two leading US platforms, Prosper and Lending Club, to explore the drivers of the growing consumer demand for peer-to-peer (P2P) credit. Despite the online nature of new entrants, we rely on the spatial autoregressive model because spatial effects play an important...

Abstract A large literature has used patent data to measure knowledge spillovers across inventions but few papers have explicitly measured the impact of the collaboration networks formed by inventors on the quality of invention. This paper develops a method to measure the impact of collaboration...

Abstract A substantial share of customers in emerging markets use dual-SIM phones and subscribe to two mobile networks. A primary motive for so called multi-simming is to take advantage of cheap on-net services from both networks. In our modelling effort, we augment the seminal model of...

Abstract Digital technologies like the Internet can affect income inequality through increased demand for employment in manual and abstract jobs and reduced demand for employment in routine jobs. In this paper, we combine city-level income distribution and jobs data with broadband data from...

Abstract This paper appeals to the interplay between network effects and quality to justify the use of planned obsolescence by well-settled firms. We propose a simple contagion model to analyze an asymmetric duopoly market where an incumbent firm benefits, at least initially, from the...

Abstract Disclosure programs can help consumers with limited information about product quality make better purchase decisions. A quality disclosure mandate such as the On-Time Disclosure Rule in the U.S. that requires airlines to provide information on the quality of their products can be...

Abstract This paper presents a first estimation of the tourist test threshold for interchange fees that makes Peruvian small merchants indifferent between accepting cash and debit cards at the point of sale. We use the tourist test model (initially proposed by Rochet and Tirole), including tax...