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A Theoretical Analysis Of Product Versioning In The Context Of Commercial Piracy

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  • Paulomi Basu
  • Tanmoyee Banerjee

Abstract

The study develops a vertically differentiated duopoly model in the presence of commercial piracy with two groups of consumers, a business group and a home group, with the former having higher willingness to pay for the product. A firm producing an original information good sells it with endogenously chosen product quality and acts as a price leader, and the commercial pirate becomes the price follower. There exists a stringent government policy of monitoring commercial piracy, which increases the marginal cost of the pirate. We study and compare the two regimes of no-versioning (selling a single quality product) and product versioning (selling products with different price and quality combinations to different consumer groups). In the versioning regime, depending upon demand and government monitoring parameters, two equilibria are observed. Comparing the original firm’s profit in each of these versioning cases suggests that versioning may or may not be the original firm’s optimal strategy in the presence of commercial piracy. This result is counterintuitive to existing literature on product versioning in the context of enduser piracy.

Suggested Citation

  • Paulomi Basu & Tanmoyee Banerjee, 2018. "A Theoretical Analysis Of Product Versioning In The Context Of Commercial Piracy," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 63(219), pages 115-136, October –.
    • Handle: RePEc:beo:journl:v:63:y:2018:i:219:p:115-136
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cremer, Helmuth & Pestieau, Pierre, 2009. "Piracy prevention and the pricing of information goods," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 34-42, February.
    2. Banerjee, Dyuti S., 2003. "Software piracy: a strategic analysis and policy instruments," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 97-127, January.
    3. Cho, Won-Young & Ahn, Byong-Hun, 2010. "Versioning of information goods under the threat of piracy," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 332-340, December.
    4. Banerjee, Dyuti S., 2006. "Lobbying and commercial software piracy," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 139-155, March.
    5. M. Alvisi & E. Argentesi & E. Carbonara, 2002. "Piracy and Quality Choice in Monopolistic Markets," Working Papers 436, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
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    Cited by:

    1. Basu, Paulomi & Banerjee , Tanmoyee & Mitra, Santanu, 2022. "An Experimental Understanding of Transaction Utility in Piracy," Journal of Economic Development, The Economic Research Institute, Chung-Ang University, vol. 47(4), pages 123-141, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Intellectual Property Right; Product-versioning; Commercial Piracy; Heterogeneity; Quality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality

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