Network caches are the storage centers in the supply chain for content delivery---the digital equivalent of warehouses. Operated by access networks and other operators, they provide benefits to content publishers in the forms of bandwidth cost reduction, response time improvement, and handling...

Geographically dispersed sellers in electronic reverse marketplaces such as those hosted by market-makers like Ariba are uncertain about the number of competitors they face in any given market session. We refer to this uncertainty about the number of competitors as market-structure uncertainty....

This paper analyzes electronic marketplaces with different ownership structures: biased marketplaces and neutral marketplaces. Biased marketplaces can be either buyer-owned or supplier-owned, whereas neutral marketplaces are owned by independent third parties. We develop a single-period model,...

We develop an analytical framework to investigate the competitive implications of personalized pricing (PP), whereby firms charge different prices to different consumers based on their willingness to pay. We embed PP in a model of vertical product differentiation and show how it affects firms'...

This paper provides insights about when versioning is an optimal strategy for information goods. Our characterization of this class of goods is that variable costs are invariant with quality, including the special case of zero variable costs. Our analysis assumes a monopoly firm that has an...

A primary tool that consumers have for comparative shopping is the shopbot, which is short for shopping robot. These shopbots automatically search a large number of vendors for price and availability. Typically a shopbot searches a predefined set of vendors and reports all results, which can...

Count data arise in various organizational settings. When the release of such data is sensitive, organizations need information-disclosure policies that protect data confidentiality while still providing data access. In contrast to extant disclosure policies, we describe a new policy for count...

In addition to the wireless telephony boom, a similar exponentially increasing trend in wireless data service--for example, short message service (SMS)--is visible as technology advances. We develop a structural model to examine user demand for voice service and SMS. Specifically, we measure the...

This begins a two-part commentary on management science and e-business, the theme of this two-part special issue. After explaining the topical clusters that give organization to both parts, we pose two key questions concerning the impact of the emerging digital economy on management science...

Content delivery networks (CDNs) are a vital component of the Internet's content delivery value chain, servicing nearly a third of the Internet's most popular content sites. However, in spite of their strategic importance, little is known about the optimal pricing policies or adoption drivers of...