In supply networks, path diversity is an important determinant of demand, entry, and firms’ market power. We investigate this role in the context of the internet backbone, the worldwide network of undersea fiber-optic cables that underpins the internet. We specify a model of inter-regional...

The current tax laws are based heavily on concepts of physical geography, such as controlling premises and physical equipment or employing staff in the jurisdiction. The geographical concepts do not accommodate the cloud business model in any sensible way. As a consequence, the taxation of cloud...

From the angle of competition policy, Voice over IP looks like a panacea. It not only brings better service, but it also increases competitive pressure on former telecommunications monopolists. This paper points to the largely overlooked downside. In a pure world of Internet telephony, there...

Digital technologies are being adopted at a faster pace than previous waves of innovation, and their use is re-shaping administration and business, consumer behaviour and social interactions. They are subject to widely varying regimes, from lightly regulated but heavily standardised global...

The emergence and market success of Linux in recent years has been impressive. Contrary to common belief, commercial enterprises are active only in the provision of services (including distribution) related to Linux. The emergence of this service market has paved the way for Linux to become a...

From the angle of competition policy, Voice over IP looks like a panacea. It not only brings better service, but it also increases competitive pressure on former telecommunications monopolists. This paper points to the largely overlooked downside. In a pure world of Internet telephony, there...

Traditionally, there have been two separate telecommunications networks, one based on switches, the other based on routers. The switched network basically carried voice. The packet switched network basically carried data. Now voice is about to go packet switched too. Ultimately, both networks...

Piracy is commonly considered to be detrimental to the software industry. The industry has taken aggressive steps to curb piracy worldwide. This study questions the wisdom of such aggressive anti-piracy effort in a competitive environment. We show that piracy attracts the most price sensitive...

Recent studies have found the Internet backbone to be more competitive than was thought before. This paper explores a novel route to monitor market power using prices and quality data from the online trading site Band-X. First the hypothesis that Europe is a connectivity market on its own, is...

Large platform companies increasingly integrate vertically by building Internet infrastructure. These proprietary infrastructures confer cost and quality advantages in digital platform markets. I model competing investment incentives for an upstream player and a vertically integrated platform...