Index Numbers and Information Networks

15 Pages Posted: 29 Jul 2013

See all articles by Robert Ackland

Robert Ackland

Australian National University

Lingfei Wu

City University of Hong Kong (CityU)

Date Written: July 29, 2013

Abstract

This paper introduces a new approach for studying behaviour in information networks. Index number theory, which has been developed in the context of comparing income and prices across countries, regions or over time, is used to derive indexes of information consumption. In particular, we construct indexes of real attention, which account for the fact that different information consumers might have different costs (in terms of attention) of consuming the same information source. An application using clickstream data for nearly 1000 websites is provided.

Keywords: index number theory, information network, attention, www clickstream

JEL Classification: C43, D12

Suggested Citation

Ackland, Robert and Wu, Lingfei, Index Numbers and Information Networks (July 29, 2013). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2298945 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2298945

Robert Ackland (Contact Author)

Australian National University ( email )

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200
Australia

Lingfei Wu

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) ( email )

83 Tat Chee Avenue
Kowloon
Hong Kong

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