Firms introducing network technologies (whose benefits depend on who installs the technology) need to understand which user characteristics confer the greatest network benefits on other potential adopters. To examine which adopter characteristics matter, I use the introduction of a...

This paper investigates how internet users' perception of control over their personal information affects how likely they are to click on online advertising. The paper uses data from a randomized field experiment that examined the relative effectiveness of personalizing ad copy using posted...

This paper investigates whether larger quantities of historical data confer a competitive advantage to firms that offer Internet search. We study how the length of time that search engines retained their server logs affected the apparent accuracy of subsequent searches. Our analysis exploits...

Blockchain technology allows a network of individuals, institutions or devices to coordinate economic activity on a global scale ('internet-level consensus') without assigning the same degree of control to the intermediary operating and facilitating transactions in the marketplace. This allows...

'Notice and Choice' has been the reference framework for how firms elicit data from consumers. This paper investigates distortions in consumer behavior which may limit the ability of consumers to safeguard their privacy using data from a field experiment at MIT. There are three findings. First,...