This paper provides a theory of rationing where rationing functions as an effective mechanism for second degree price discrimination by a monopoly seller. When a seller charges multiple prices on homogenous products to all consumers, supply at the lowest price is limited and rationed among...

Consumers' average value for information goods, websites, weather forecasts, music, and news declines with the number consumed. This paper provides simple guidelines to optimal bundling marketing strategies in this case. If consumers' values do not decrease too quickly, we show that bundling is...

Marketers are increasingly relying on promotional practices (variously labeled as stealth marketing, hybrid messages, covert advertising) based on the diffusion of product information by third parties that appear to be independent of advertisers. In this paper, we examine to what extent the...

This paper examines a market where the provision of information service is costly, but information service has the characteristics of a public good. Consumers, on the other hand, can use the information service to make an informed purchase decision and derive higher utility from consuming their...

The unprecedented easiness of exchanging information among consumers on the internet could add another dimension to the firms' competition against each other. In this paper, we introduce consumers' learning from each other about the degree of product differentiation into a Hotelling duopoly...

Static theories of firms often fail to explain the tendency toward standardization and de facto monopolization by software and digital product firms. This article examines arguments favored by new economics of information: no market power, increasing returns, and network effects. We evaluate...

The proliferation of new information technologies throughout the world has raised some important questions for policymakers as to how developing countries can benefit from their diffusion. This important volume compares the advantages and disadvantages of the IT revolution through detailed...