What became of the Information Society and development? Assessing the Information Society’s relevance in the context of an economic crisis

Abstract Although it is widely assumed that the development of an Information Society is an engine for sustainable economic growth, this often remains more of an assumption than a demonstrable outcome. A critical analysis of that link is much needed, and particularly pertinent during times of crisis where it can be even more tested. To…

The effects of motivations to go to the country on rural accommodation choice: A hybrid discrete choice model

Based on the theory of constructive consumer choice process, we propose that the rural accommodation choice process depends on motivations of tourists to go to the country. Discrete choice models have frequently been used to explain and predict choices from a set of finite alternatives, such as the choice of accommodation, but using only cognitive…

Specialization Across Goods and Export Quality

ABSTRACT This paper explores the link between specialization across goods and specialization within goods along the quality dimension. It develops a tractable many-country, many-industry Ricar- dian model with an integer number of heterogeneous firms producing each good, under a generic assumption about the distributions of firm e ciencies. In equilibrium, each country exports a range…

Information and Quality with an Increasing Number of Brands

ABSTRACT We analyze the potential trade-off between product variety and consumer information and the implications this trade-off has for product quality. We introduce a simple information accumulation process in a horizontal differentiation model with unobservable quality. As the number of brands increases, per-brand consumer information decreases, which leads to lower average quality. Eventually, the reduction…

Exploring the economic value of personal information from firms’ balance sheets

ABSTRACT Currently personal data gathering in online markets is done on a far larger scale and much cheaper and faster than ever before. Within this scenario, a number of highly relevant companies for whom personal data is the key factor of production have emerged. However, up to now, the corresponding economic analysis has been restricted…