{"title":"为数字产品指定默认位置:竞争、监管和福利","authors":"Yongmin Chen, Marius Schwartz","doi":"10.1111/joie.12417","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>We analyze alternative ways to assign the default position for digital goods like search engines. When two competing firms vie for the default through bidding, the higher-quality firm typically wins but delivers lower utility than the rival due to heightened monetization from exploiting consumer switching costs. The distribution of consumer switching costs plays a crucial role in driving the bidding outcome and welfare results. Paradoxically, increasing via regulation the rival's default share tends to raise profit and harm consumers, at least in the short run. Letting consumers choose the default benefits them in the short run, but harms the weaker firm.</p>","PeriodicalId":47963,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Industrial Economics","volume":"73 3","pages":"426-445"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/joie.12417","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Assigning Default Position for Digital Goods: Competition, Regulation, and Welfare\",\"authors\":\"Yongmin Chen, Marius Schwartz\",\"doi\":\"10.1111/joie.12417\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p>We analyze alternative ways to assign the default position for digital goods like search engines. When two competing firms vie for the default through bidding, the higher-quality firm typically wins but delivers lower utility than the rival due to heightened monetization from exploiting consumer switching costs. The distribution of consumer switching costs plays a crucial role in driving the bidding outcome and welfare results. Paradoxically, increasing via regulation the rival's default share tends to raise profit and harm consumers, at least in the short run. Letting consumers choose the default benefits them in the short run, but harms the weaker firm.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":47963,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Journal of Industrial Economics\",\"volume\":\"73 3\",\"pages\":\"426-445\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":1.0000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-05-12\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/joie.12417\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Journal of Industrial Economics\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"96\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joie.12417\",\"RegionNum\":4,\"RegionCategory\":\"经济学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q3\",\"JCRName\":\"BUSINESS, FINANCE\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Industrial Economics","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joie.12417","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"BUSINESS, FINANCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
Assigning Default Position for Digital Goods: Competition, Regulation, and Welfare
We analyze alternative ways to assign the default position for digital goods like search engines. When two competing firms vie for the default through bidding, the higher-quality firm typically wins but delivers lower utility than the rival due to heightened monetization from exploiting consumer switching costs. The distribution of consumer switching costs plays a crucial role in driving the bidding outcome and welfare results. Paradoxically, increasing via regulation the rival's default share tends to raise profit and harm consumers, at least in the short run. Letting consumers choose the default benefits them in the short run, but harms the weaker firm.
期刊介绍:
First published in 1952, the Journal of Industrial Economics has a wide international circulation and is recognised as a leading journal in the field. It was founded to promote the analysis of modern industry, particularly the behaviour of firms and the functioning of markets. Contributions are welcomed in all areas of industrial economics including: - organization of industry - applied oligopoly theory - product differentiation and technical change - theory of the firm and internal organization - regulation - monopoly - merger and technology policy Necessarily, these subjects will often draw on adjacent areas such as international economics, labour economics and law.