The Internet Economy: Access, Taxes, and Market Structure

In 1998, Internet-related industries created over a million jobs and generated more than $330 billion in revenue. As of December 1999, almost five million commercial websites had emerged, and that number was increasing at a rate of almost half a million per month. The explosive growth of the Internet economy has drastically changed the way commercial transactions are conducted, making anything from books to databases available at the click of a mouse. This book investigates the underlying economics of the Internet, focusing specifically on the pricing of access, the pricing of goods and services sold online, the relationship between network effects, technological innovation and business strategy, and the issues surrounding taxation of electronic commerce. Addressing the economic aspects of the Internet and electronic commerce as well as traditional pricing practices and market structure, this volume will serve as a roadmap for the current and future terrain of the Internet economy.