It has been conjectured that the peer-based recommendations associated with electronic commerce lead to a redistribution of demand from popular products or "blockbusters" to less popular or "niche" products, and that electronic markets will therefore be characterized by a "long tail" of demand...

In this paper we analyze a model of usage pricing for digital products with discontinuous supply functions, which characterizes a number of information technology-based products and services for which variable increases in demand are fulfilled by the addition of "blocks" of computing or network...

The effective design of business processes is a subject of considerable importance to corporations today. Our research focuses on developing a theoretical framework for process design in order to provide some guidelines for mangers. The abundant context-specific case studies which exist today...

This paper analyzes the optimal choice of pricing schedules and technological deterrence levels in a market with digital piracy where sellers can influence the degree of piracy by implementing digital rights management (DRM) systems. It is shown that a monopolist's optimal pricing schedule can...

A number of technology products display positive network effects, and are used in variable quantities by heterogeneous customers. Examples include operating systems, infrastructure and back-end software, web services and networking equipment. This paper studies optimal nonlinear pricing for such...

Platforms represent a new middle ground between hierarchies and marketplaces, balancing delegation to providers with centralized control of key strategic dimensions like pricing and customer service. Market design choices are often made early in the life of a platform, thus executives must...

Will the sharing economy create long-run economic value? We develop a new dynamic model of peer-to-peer Internet-enabled rental markets for durable goods in which consumers may also trade their durable assets in (traditional) secondary markets, transaction costs and depreciation rates may vary...

The purpose of this document is to respond to selected questions forcomment on the proposed framework in the FTC report “ProtectingConsumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change: A Proposed Framework for Businesses and Policymakers” (December 1st, 2010). Our responses are based on our ongoing...

The confluence of two digital forces—a shift towards platform-mediated peer-to-peer exchange, and a rise in the cognitive capabilities of artificial intelligence and robotics technologies—will dramatically reshape tomorrow’s workplace by making it difficult for a growing fraction of the...

This paper analyzes optimal pricing for information goods under incomplete information, when both unlimited-usage (fixed-fee) pricing and usage-based pricing are feasible, and administering usage-based pricing may involve transaction costs. It is shown that offering fixed-fee pricing in addition...