Can you hear me now? The rise of smartphones and their welfare effects
| Autor: | P. Wesley Routon, Adam D. Rennhoff |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
Service (business)
Economics and Econometrics business.industry Communication Consumer choice media_common.quotation_subject 05 social sciences Advertising Library and Information Sciences Management Monitoring Policy and Law Economic surplus Management Information Systems 0502 economics and business Cellular network Wireless 050211 marketing Landline 050207 economics Consumer welfare Telecommunications business Welfare Information Systems media_common |
| Zdroj: | Telecommunications Policy. 40:39-51 |
| ISSN: | 0308-5961 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.telpol.2015.11.004 |
| Popis: | The advent of smartphones has caused a dramatic change in consumers' access to information and media. Using data on consumer telephone service choices, along with geographic data on cellular network infrastructure and software applications, we estimate the demand for telephone services. We allow for the possibility that consumers purchase both landline and wireless service. Among our results, we find evidence that smartphones are much stronger substitutes to landlines than traditional wireless services, suggesting the growth of smartphones may speed up the decline of landline services. Using our demand estimates, we estimate the effect that smartphone availability has had on consumer welfare. We estimate that average monthly surplus (per-consumer) from smartphone introduction is approximately $35.50, which implies an aggregate monthly consumer surplus of approximately $7.03 billion for wireless consumers in the United States. This welfare increase is due to the expanded consumer choice set, as well as the effect that smartphone growth has had on improvements in cellular networks and a reduction in the price of wireless voice services. HighlightsWe estimate demand for telephone services (both landline & wireless) in the U.S.We estimate monthly consumer surplus from smartphone introduction to be $35.50.This aggregates to $7.03 billion monthly for wireless consumers in the U.S.Smartphones are found to be stronger landline substitutes than traditional cell phones.This suggests the growth of smartphones may speed up the decline of landlines. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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