Apple iOS is a closed platform;Google Android is open. In this paper,we combine data on iOS and Android tablet sales with data on the top 1000 mobile applications from both platforms for five European countries and estimate a structural demand model.We find that the quality of applications...

Many durable goods, particularly in the high technology sector of the economy, experience rapid quality improvement. As a result, replacement is typically due to obsolescence rather than breakdown, and replacement cycles are relatively short. When these goods are vertically differentiated,...

This paper analyzes competition between multiple proprietary and incompatible hardware systems when indirect network effects are present and software is provided competitively by third party developers. A discrete choice demand structure is employed within a game theoretic setting to allow for a...

We estimate an equilibrium model of dynamic oligopoly with durable goods and endogenous innovation to examine the effect of competition on innovation in the PC microprocessor industry. Firms make dynamic pricing and investment decisions while consumers make dynamic upgrade decisions,...

This study empirically investigates how imperfect information on prices, qualities and search costs affect prices and qualities. We build on a comprehensive dataset on the housing market that encompasses detailed buyer-specific information on mortgages, income and residential status before...

New and old products differ in two respects: quality and newness. Whereas a higher quality of a new product always benefits consumers, the newness itself benefits some consumers, but not others, and for some, it is even a disadvantage. We capture these features in a Hotelling model of...

New and old products differ in two respects: quality and newness. Whereas a higher quality of a new product always benefits consumers, the newness itself benefits some consumers, but not others, and for some, it is even a disadvantage. We capture these features in a Hotelling model of Over-...

This paper estimates the nature and effects of quality and cost innovations in the early automobile, personal computer, rigid disk drive, computer monitor, and computer printer industries using industry-level data on firm numbers, price, quantity, and quality along with an equilibrium model of...

The manufacturing complexity of many high-tech products results in a substantial variation in the quality of the units produced. Post manufacturing, the units are classified into vertically differentiated products. These products are typically obtained in uncontrollable fractions, leading to...

This article is a study focusing on an important area of appliances we inevitably use almost daily and which has a tendency of renewal, diversification and quality improvement – that is the television set. There is a discrepancy between the quality of the products on the market and the one...