We explore the consequence of quality unpredictability for the welfare benefit of new products, using recent developments in recorded music as our context. Digitization has expanded consumption opportunities by giving consumers access to the "long tail" of existing products, rather than simply...

We examine the relationship between occupational automation probabilities and employment dynamics over nearly two decades. We show that employment and wage shares of occupations with a higher automation risk have declined in Sweden over the period 1996-2013. This has occurred both in the...

The YouTube platform reduces fixed entry costs for local artists but also lowers the cost of access to international superstars. The net effect is an empirical question. We study the effect of YouTube on the market for music, focusing on converging tastes for international hits. We consider...

A key aspect of generating new ideas is drawing from different elements of preexisting knowledge and combining them into a new idea. In such a process, the diversity of ideas plays a central role. This paper examines the empirical question of how the internet affected the diversity of new...

The turn of the millennium is marked by rapid developments in digital technologies. The ubiquity of digitalization is one of the primary forces behind innovations across a wide range of product and service categories. In order to create an initial forum for scholars from different fields, and to...

Due to globalization and digitalization, small and medium firms adopt relocation strategies to transfer their activities (and implicitly also knowledge) among territorial systems, inducing transformations into both source and destination areas. Cognitive proximity and knowledge creation/transfer...

Information and communication technologies are one of the most pervasive technologies in the world, second only to 'human intelligence' or the human brain. Thus, understanding the factors that determine the diffusion of new technologies across African countries is important to understanding the...

One of the pillars of every community is its system of government. Many government functions, such as collecting taxes and running elections, involve the collection and dissemination of information. Thus, governments can use information technology (IT) to solve a host of problems. Because IT...

Information technology (IT) has become so pervasive that its effects on society can be seen in the interactions between citizens and their communities. Strong communities have strong bonds between its members and with other communities, and IT is helping to link people and communities together...

This chapter examines the digital divide that exists within Latin American countries. It argues that information and communication technology is creating new opportunities that can be seized to support human development and poverty-reduction strategies. However, it also clarifies that ICT on its...