An Empirical Examination of Cultural Biases in Interpersonal Economic Exchange

2012 | International Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 1

Authors: Burtch, Gordon; Ghose, Anindya; Wattal, Sunil

Abstract: Economic trade between individuals, supported by an array of global electronic m ... Expand

Abstract: Economic trade between individuals, supported by an array of global electronic marketplaces, comprises an ever-growing proportion of the global economy. Prominent online companies like eBay, Amazon and Freelancer.com regularly afford individuals the opportunity to engage others the world over. Importantly, however, such trade has may introduce new hurdles. Though technology reduces the role of distance, it does very little to mitigate cultural differences. As such, in this study, we seek to identify and quantify the effects of cultural differences on economic exchange between individuals. We focus upon the world’s largest micro-lending website, employing an aggregate dataset that incorporates three million loans. Referring to theories of bounded rationality and cyber-balkanization, we demonstrate that lenders prefer culturally similar borrowers. Further, we find that lenders only appear to concern themselves with cultural differences insofar as they are aware of those differences, as the preference for similar borrowers is much stronger in local lending. Collapse

Topics: natural hazard crowdsourcing electronic market internet technology missing data

Methods: survey Poisson regression robustness check cross sectional research qualitative interview

Theories: theory of bounded rationality

Why Do People Pay for Information Goods? A Study of the Online Porn Industry

2006 | Americas Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Ang, Eileen; Kwan, Janice; Teo, Jascelyn; Chua, Cecil

Abstract: Information goods are costly to produce. However, replicating an information goo ... Expand

Abstract: Information goods are costly to produce. However, replicating an information good is practically costless. As a result, many information good industries have severe problems with piracy. The pornography industry is an information good industry that thrives despite piracy. This research-in-progress examines why consumers are willing to pay for pornography despite the availability of free pornography. We attempt to obtain both free and paid pornography and compare and contrast the outcomes. Our preliminary results suggest that free pornography has hidden costs, while paid pornography is low cost. Specific costs to free pornography include long wait times (depending on the approach, up to 7.5 hours with no result), and the risk of virus infection. In contrast, access to large libraries of high-quality paid pornography can be obtained for as little as US$14.95 a month. Our results suggest that lawsuits will not help information goods producers, because consumers of pirated goods value money over time. Collapse

Topics: website information good search engine online porn internet technology

Economic Implications of Variable Technology Standards for Movie Piracy in a Global Context

2003 | Journal of Management Information Systems | Citations: 24

Authors: Chellappa, Ramnath K.; Shivendu, Shivendu

Abstract: Even if bandwidth on the Internet is limited, compression technologies have made ... Expand

Abstract: Even if bandwidth on the Internet is limited, compression technologies have made online music piracy a foremost problem in intellectual copyright protection. However, due to significantly larger sizes of video files, movies are still largely pirated by duplicating DVDs, VCDs, and other physical media. In the case of DVDs, movie studios have historically maintained different technology codes or formats across various regions of the world, primarily to control the timing of theatrical releases in these parts of the world. This paper formulates an analytical model to study the implications of maintaining different or incompatible technology standards in DVD and other optical disc players on global pricing and piracy of movie discs. Our formulation develops two distinct piracy types, namely, regional and global piracy, signifying if consumers will pirate movies released for their own region or those meant for other regions. Our results find that maintaining separate technology standards is very critical when there is piracy, as losses from global piracy can be higher than when only regional piracy exists. Further, we observe that piracy is not a victimless crime, in that not only do producers suffer losses but consumers in regions with high willingness to pay for quality also stand to lose. In addition, we find that increasing homogeneity in consumer preferences for quality across regions may not be beneficial to digital product vendors unless there is also uniformity in copyright protection laws. We conclude with recommendations for research and practice for movie studios as well as producers for other goods that are dependent on copyright protection such as books and pharmaceuticals. Collapse

Topics: DVD price management willingness to pay information systems standardization digital product

Methods: theoretical contribution mathematical model case study

Theories: lemon market theory