This paper examines the impact of transaction costs on economic welfare and development. We extend the static model of Romer (1994), in which transaction costs reduce welfare by the reducing the equilibrium number of intermediate goods, and estimate the welfare losses in the case of domestic...

Die Diskussion um das digital divide oder die digitale Spaltung, wie sie für den deutschsprachigen Raum übersetzt wird, wird nun schon seit nahezu zehn Jahren intensiv geführt.1 Vor allem im Rahmen der politischen Diskussion hat sich das Bedrohungsszenario einer digitalen Spaltung innerhalb...

The paper, mostly empirical in nature, investigates issues on cross-national new information and communication technologies (ICTs) adoption patterns and growth directions. In the period of 2000-2010, a great number of countries underwent substantial changes on the field of ICTs implementation....

Economics often provides the wrong incentives to those who control the assets, such as people in developing countries where most forests are located and who could potentially benefit most from conservation . There is increasing unease about this situation, and an emerging view is that standard...

In this paper we discuss two propositions: the supply and demand of knowledge, and network externalities. We outline the characteristics that distinguish knowledge-intensive industries from the general run of manufacturing and service businesses. Knowledge intensity and knowledge specialisation...

This chapter is concerned with the ‘new’ world of information technology and knowledge intensity. This is a world marked by big investments in R&D, different cost structures and significantly changed demand conditions. You should read this chapter in conjunction with Chapter 19, which deals...