Understanding Digital Markets: Review and Assesment

37 Pages Posted: 19 Nov 2001

See all articles by Michael D. Smith

Michael D. Smith

Carnegie Mellon University - H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management

Joseph Bailey

University of Maryland

Erik Brynjolfsson

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Stanford

Date Written: October 2001

Abstract

As the Internet develops into a robust channel for commerce, it will be important to understand the characteristics of electronic markets. Businesses, consumers, government regulators, and academic researchers face a variety of questions when analyzing these nascent markets. Will electronic markets have less friction than comparable conventional markets? What factors lead to dispersion in Internet prices? What are the major electronic commerce developments to watch in the coming years? This paper addresses these questions by reviewing current academic research, discussing the implications of this research, and proposing areas for future study. We review evidence that Internet markets are more efficient than conventional markets with respect to price levels, menu costs, and price elasticity. However, several studies find substantial and persistent dispersion in prices on the Internet. This price dispersion may be explained, in part, by heterogeneity in retailer-specific factors such as trust and awareness. In addition, we note that Internet markets are still in an early stage of development and may change dramatically in the coming years with the development of cross-channel sales strategies, infomediaries and shopbots, improved supply chain management, and new information markets.

Suggested Citation

Smith, Michael D. and Bailey, Joseph and Brynjolfsson, Erik, Understanding Digital Markets: Review and Assesment (October 2001). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=290326 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.290326

Michael D. Smith (Contact Author)

Carnegie Mellon University - H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management ( email )

Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.heinz.cmu.edu/~mds

Joseph Bailey

University of Maryland

College Park
College Park, MD 20742
United States

Erik Brynjolfsson

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Stanford ( email )

366 Galvez St
Stanford, CA 94305
United States

HOME PAGE: http://brynjolfsson.com

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
4,920
Abstract Views
24,282
Rank
3,449
PlumX Metrics