Department of Economics
Industrial Organization of the Internet
- Prof. Joseph Harrington
- Department of Economics
- (410) 516-7615, Fax: (410) 516-7600
- joe.harrington@jhu.edu
 Some Relevant Books |
Collections of Bookmarks |
| Research Groups |
Industry |
| Internet Tools |
Statistics |
| Journals |
Scholars |
Some Relevant Books
Choi, Soon-Young, Dale O. Stahl, and Andrew B. Whinston, The Economics of Electronic Commerce, 1997.
Though this book sounds promising (especially given the quality of the authors), it is not appropriate for economists or even for an undergraduate economics class. The level of discourse is very low and, as a result, the analysis is often quite shallow. At best, the book is designed for business novices. On the plus side, the organization of the book is useful as a guide to designing a curriculum for studying e-commerce.
Davis, Stan and Christopher Meyer, BLUR, the Speed of Change in the Connected Economy, 1998.
From the book: "Your college economic theories just don't describe the real world today. Their assumptions are mostly invalid, and many of their deeply held tenets are living on their reputations, not on relevant empirical evidence."
After jettisoning economic theory, the authors provide us with some interesting but not very deep observations complemented with a few anecdotes, no empirical evidence, and no well-reasoned theoretical alternative. They have expanded our lexicon, however, as they like to say "Let's BLUR that" prior to providing their own perspective on markets.
Hanson, Ward, Principles of Internet Marketing, 2000.
Though this book suffers from the primary ailment of most other e-commerce books - there is a lack of depth of analysis - it is the best in terms of providing a broad overview of the primary technological, economic, and competitive strategy issues related to online markets. It would serve an undergraduate economics e-commerce course well as background material.
Kahin, Brian and Hal R. Varian, editors, Internet Publishing and Beyond: The Economics of Digital Information and Intellectual Property, 2000.
An excellent collection of essays that are able to balance substance and readability for a wide audience. The piece by Hoffman and Novak on the pricing of online advertising is particularly interesting.
Kelley, Kevin, New Rules for the New Economy, 1998.
Myong Chang (a Hopkins PhD and a co-author of mine) says: "This is a popular press version of Information Rules. Kevin Kelley is an editor for WIRED magazine and considers himself a visionary. Fun to read, but not as rigorous as Shapiro and Varian."
Saloner, Garth and A. Michael Spence, Creating and Capturing Value: Perspectives and Cases on Electronic Commerce, 2001.
The authors (the latter of whom just won the Nobel Prize in Economics) provide a superb overview to many of the primary economic and strategy issues related to e-commerce. The vast majority of the book provides case studies which, on the whole, were rather disappointing; useful in providing company and historical detail but lacking in insight.
Schwartz, Evan I., Digital Darwinism: 7 Breakthrough Business Strategies for Surviving in the Cutthroat Web Economy, 1999.
In spite of such a "sexy" title - which my experience has shown is associated with a shallow analysis of business strategy - this is actually a thoughtful introduction to a number of central issues related to competing online. It turns out that the author rarely utilizes the natural selection metaphor in analyzing e-commerce which is fortunate because, when he does, the analysis does run aground in shallow waters. The author has also written Webonomics (1997).
Shapiro, Carl and Hal R. Varian, Information Rules, 1999.
While only touching on electronic commerce, this is a wonderful introduction to the many economic issues related to networks and markets for information.
Siebel, Thomas M. and Pat House, Cyber Rules, 1999.
Competent coverage with a few interesting cases but nothing especially insightful. Many of the book's main points are largely known.
Westland, J. Christopher and Theodore H. K. Clark, Global Electronic Commerce: Theory and Case Studies, 1999.
This is a well-written book covering both the technology and, to a limited extent, the economics of e-commerce. The case studies are numerous and generally quite informative. Though an excellent introduction to e-commerce, the analysis never goes deep and thus the insight is never large.
Links - Research Groups
Links - Industry
Internet Society contains useful general information about the technology and links to histories of the Internet.
shop.org is part of the National Retail Federation.
TRUSTe provides a seal of approval for an online company's privacy policy.
Links - Internet Tools
agentland is loaded with intelligent agents and virtual assistants to work the net for you.
Craig's List is, well, Craig Newmark's listing of web sites.
Glossary for e-commerce defines terms from "above the fold" to "zine". It also provides a listing of keyboard characters for expressing emotions like :-( [sad] and :-} [embarrassed smile]. Though it is missing :-(*) [make me barf]. Look under "smiley."
Nash-Equilibrium.com measures the competitiveness of the Internet and provides other relevant economic indicators.
Sites about search engines.
Snipe Swipe provides sniping services when bidding for items at eBay.
Vendio provides auction management.
Links - Measuring and Forecasting the Internet
Alexa measures Internet traffic.
ClickZ Stats provides Internet statistics and market research.
Forrester Research conducts research and analysis on the impact of the Internet on business strategy and consumer behavior.
StatMarket reports Internet user trends using data gathered from 50 million visitors a day on tens of thousands of Web sites.
Links - Scholarly, Trade, and Popular Journals on Electronic Commerce
Links - Scholars (My apologies for this list being woefully incomplete.)
Alessandro Acquisti is at the Heinz School of Public Policy and Management, Carnegie Mellon University
Joseph Bailey is at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland
Yannis Bakos is at the Stern School of Business, New York University
Mike Baye is at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University
Karen Clay is at the Heinz School of Public Policy and Management, Carnegie Mellon University
Emin Dinlersoz is at the Department of Economics, University of Houston
Ben Edelman is a graduate student at the Department of Economics, Harvard University
Avi Goldfarb is at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Austan Goolsbee is at the Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago
Shane Greenstein is at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University
Lorin Hitt is at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Ali Hortcasu is at the Department of Economics, University of Chicago
Ganesh Iyer is at the Haas School of Business, University of Califonia at Berkeley
Ginger Zhe Jin is at the Department of Economics, University of Maryland
Jeff MacKie-Mason is at the School of Information and the Department of Economics, University of Michigan
John Morgan is at the Haas School of Business, University of Califonia at Berkeley
Andrew Odlyzko is at the Digital Technology Center, University of Minnesota
David Parkes is at the Department of Computer Science, Harvard University
David Reiley is at the Department of Economics, University of Arizona
Paul Resnick is at the School of Information and the Department of Economics, University of Michigan
Michael Smith is at the Heinz School of Public Policy and Management, Carnegie Mellon University
Hal Varian is Dean of the School of Information Management and Systems at the University of California at Berkeley