The Internet provides an infrastructure that makes the steadily increasing amount of information accessible efficiently, quickly, and inexpensively. Closely connec ted with this opportunity is the danger that the available information will over charge the individual information seeker's capability to process the information and to judge its quality. In this situation, information intermediaries can take upon the role of an expert and a guarantor of quality similar to intermediaries in markets for physical goods or finances. Thus, information intermediaries can be a trust worthy, information processing third party, mediating between information seekers and information sources. The current technological development has created information technologies that are capable to efficiently process large amounts of information. However, the pro vision of intermediation services necessitates a thorough examination of the basic principles underlying the economics of information intermediaries as well as a sound foundation on information technologies. The present work by Frank Rose addresses the fundamental question concerning the economics of information intermediaries by means of an abstract model. The model focuses on services that concentrate on the search and mediation of information, and identifies the essential influencing factors of the intermediary's environment. The model is then employed to investigate the impact of environmental conditions on the information intermediary on the one hand, and the optimal strategy of the information intermediary as a reaction to environmental conditions on the other hand.

The Economics of Information Technology is a concise and accessible review of some of the important economic factors affecting information technology industries. These industries are characterized by high fixed costs and low marginal costs of production, large switching costs for users, and strong network effects. These factors combine to produce some unique behavior. The book consists of two parts. In the first part, Professor Varian outlines the basic economics of these industries. In the second part, Professors Farrell and Shapiro describe the impact of these factors on competition policy. The clarity of the analysis and exposition makes this an ideal introduction for undergraduate and graduate students in economics, business strategy, law and related areas.

This SPR Departmental Paper will provide policymakers with a framework for studying changes to national data policy frameworks.

This book presents a comprehensive view of Internet intermediaries, their economic and social function, development and prospects, benefits and costs, and roles and responsibilities.

Contemporary Financial Intermediation, 4th Edition by Greenbaum, Thakor, and Boot continues to offer a distinctive approach to the study of financial markets and institutions by presenting an integrated portrait that puts information and economic reasoning at the core. Instead of primarily naming and describing markets, regulations, and institutions as is common, Contemporary Financial Intermediation explores the subtlety, plasticity and fragility of financial institutions and credit markets. In this new edition every chapter has been updated and pedagogical supplements have been enhanced. For the financial sector, the best preprofessional training explains the reasons why markets, institutions, and regulators evolve they do, why we suffer recurring financial crises occur and how we typically react to them. Our textbook demands more in terms of quantitative skills and analysis, but its ability to teach about the forces shaping the financial world is unmatched. - Updates and expands a legacy title in a valuable field - Holds a prominent position in a growing portfolio of finance textbooks - Teaches tactics on how to recognize and forecast fluctuations in financial markets

Professor Spulber demonstrates how the intermediation theory of the firm explains firm formation by showing why firms arise in a market equilibrium with costly transactions. In addition, the theory helps explain how markets work by.

Markets run on information. Buyers make decisions by relying on their knowledge of the products available, and sellers decide what to produce based on their understanding of what buyers want. But the distribution of market information has changed, as consumers increasingly turn to sources that act as intermediaries for information—companies like Yelp and Google. Antitrust Law in the New Economy considers a wide range of problems that arise around one aspect of information in the marketplace: its quality. Sellers now have the ability and motivation to distort the truth about their products when they make data available to intermediaries. And intermediaries, in turn, have their own incentives to skew the facts they provide to buyers, both to benefit advertisers and to gain advantages over their competition. Consumer protection law is poorly suited for these problems in the information economy. Antitrust law, designed to regulate powerful firms and prevent collusion among producers, is a better choice. But the current application of antitrust law pays little attention to information quality. Mark Patterson discusses a range of ways in which data can be manipulated for competitive advantage and exploitation of consumers (as happened in the LIBOR scandal), and he considers novel issues like “confusopoly” and sellers’ use of consumers’ personal information in direct selling. Antitrust law can and should be adapted for the information economy, Patterson argues, and he shows how courts can apply antitrust to address today’s problems.