This is a discussion of the manuscript "Local News Online: Aggregators, Geo-Targeting and the Market for Local News" by L. George and C. Hogendorn, presented at the 11th Workshop on Media Economics, which was held at the Recanati Business School, Tel-Aviv University, October 9-10, 2013.

Should a new ``platform'' target a functionality-rich but complex andexpensive design or instead opt for a bare-bone but cheaper one? This is afundamental question with profound implications for the eventual success ofany platform. A general answer is, however, elusive as it involves a...

The impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on firm performance has become the subject of active research in the last four decades. This study’s goal is to review the effect of ICT on the financial performance of firms in the consumer goods sector as measured by their Return...

The study examined the extent to which digital revolution has affected the organizational structure of Nigerian banks. Twenty-five banks were selected for the study in south-western Nigeria. Interview was conducted for middle and top level managers and questionnaire was developed and...

In 2004, Frits Bolkenstein, former European Commissioner for the Internal Market, brought in the attention of the European Commission “The Services Directive in the Internal Market”. The purpose of this directive was to liberalize the services’ market in the EU, a major regulated field,...

On the market for factoring services independent suppliers coexhist with companies affiliated with banking groups. The last ones can be oriented in their decision processes by the policies of their parent company, usually a bank. They could also benefit from synergies among the different units...

Using Japanese panel data for 2006-2009, this study attempts to examine how the pass rate of law school students taking the new bar examination influences the number of applicants for the law school in the following years. The major finding is that the higher the law school student pass rate,...

Payday lending is a relatively new and fast growing segment of the “fringe banking” industry. This paper offers a comparative, descriptive analysis of the location patterns of traditional banks and payday lenders. Utilizing a dataset at the Zip Code Tabulation Area level in North Carolina,...

This paper analyses through non-parametric methods the technical efficiency of a cross-section of 728 Italian banks belonging to different institutional categories (limited companies, credit societies, rural banks and credit cooperatives). It applies an extension of the Free Disposal Approach,...

Despite significant advances in research on innovation in services, there are still major challenges in this area. The purpose of this article is to analyse the state-of-the art on innovation in services, and point out some future possibilities. The method used was a bibliographic review. The...