Economic Analysis of the Digital Economy

As the cost of storing, sharing, and analyzing data has decreased, economic activity has become increasingly digital. But while the effects of digital technology and improved digital communication have been explored in a variety of contexts, the impact on economic activity—from consumer and entrepreneurial behavior to the ways in which governments determine policy—is less well understood. This book examines the economic impact of digitization, with each chapter identifying a promising new area of research. The first set of chapters discusses basic supply-and-demand factors related to Internet access, the Internet being one of the key drivers of growth in digital communication. Later chapters discuss new opportunities and challenges created by digital technology and describe some of the most pressing policy issues. As digital technology development continues to gain in momentum and importance, it has become clear that some aspects of digitization do not fit well in traditional economic models. Economic Analysis of the Digital Economy brings together leading scholars to study this gap and to advance this emerging area of research.