Digital goods and the new economy

Quah, Danny (2003) Digital goods and the new economy. CEP Discussion Papers (CEPDP0563). London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance, London, UK.

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Abstract

Digital goods are bitstrings, sequences of 0s and 1s, which have economic value. They are distinguished from other goods by five characteristics: digital goods are nonrival, infinitely expansible, discrete, aspatial, and recombinant. The New Economy is one where the economics of digital goods importantly influence aggregate economic performance. This Article considers such influences not by hypothesizing ad hoc inefficiencies that the New Economy can purport to resolve, but instead by beginning from an Arrow-Debreu perspective and asking how digital goods affect outcomes. This approach sheds light on why property rights on digital goods differ from property rights in general, guaranteeing neither appropriate incentives nor social efficiency; provides further insight into why Open Source Software is a successful model of innovation and development in digital goods industries; and helps explain how geographical clustering matters.

Item Type:	Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL:	https://cep.lse.ac.uk/_new/publications/discussion...
Additional Information:	© 2003 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Economics
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
JEL classification:	D - Microeconomics > D6 - Welfare Economics > D60 - General L - Industrial Organization > L1 - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance > L12 - Monopoly; Monopolization Strategies O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development > O30 - General R - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics > R12 - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade
Date Deposited:	29 Feb 2024 12:21
Last Modified:	11 Dec 2024 19:52
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/121689

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