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A Brief Business History of an on-line distribution system for academic research called NEP, 1998-2010

Author

Listed:
  • Bernardo Batiz-Lazo

    (Bangor Business School)

  • Thomas Krichel

    (Long Island University (USA) and Novosibirsk State University (Russia))

Abstract

Purpose Applications of information technology have been directly responsible for the increase in productivity of business, government and academic activities. Business and management historians have yet to contribute to better understanding such processes. This paper aims to address this shortcoming through the internal and organisational history of a system for speedy, online distribution of recent additions to the broad literatures on economics and related areas called NEP: New Economic Papers. Design This is a first person account (partly autobiographical) which also includes interviews and the use of archived e-mail correspondence. Findings The advent of the Internet promised a revolutionary change by democratising the social institutions related to the creation and dissemination of academic knowledge. Instead, this story tells how participants slowly but steadily tended to replicate established institutions. Research limitations Researching the impact of the Internet on organizations is a promising topic for historians, for which this might be one case study.Practical implications The development of NEP provides an illustrative example for the kind of new business models that have emerged as the Internet has been used by creative minds to provide existing services in a new way.Social implications This paper provides a story of the NEP project and shows how one person’s drive could generate a broader community of volunteers (constituted by a large number of academics and practitioners who provide critical support for its functioning). We provide details of the social and technological challenges for the construction of the technological platform as well as the evolution of its governance.Originality There is no historiography in business and management history on how to deal with changes in archived material resulting from the application of information and telecommunication technologies. Given the rate of change for events in the third industrial revolution, this article shows is its possible and indeed relevant to document events in the recent past.

Suggested Citation

  • Bernardo Batiz-Lazo & Thomas Krichel, 2011. "A Brief Business History of an on-line distribution system for academic research called NEP, 1998-2010," Working Papers 11005, Bangor Business School, Prifysgol Bangor University (Cymru / Wales).
    • Handle: RePEc:bng:wpaper:11005
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    File URL: http://www.bangor.ac.uk/business/research/documents/BBSWP11005.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Josh Lerner & Jean Tirole, 2002. "Some Simple Economics of Open Source," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 197-234, June.
    2. Richard N. Langlois, 2003. "The vanishing hand: the changing dynamics of industrial capitalism," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 12(2), pages 351-385, April.
    3. Doh-Shin Jeon & Jean-Charles Rochet, 2010. "The Pricing of Academic Journals: A Two-Sided Market Perspective," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 222-255, May.
    4. Thomas Krichel & Christian Zimmermann, 2009. "The Economics of Open Bibliographic Data Provision," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 143-152, March.
    5. Galambos, Louis, 2005. "Recasting the Organizational Synthesis: Structure and Process in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 79(1), pages 1-38, April.
    6. Chandler, Alfred D., 2005. "Commercializing High-Technology Industries," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 79(3), pages 595-604, October.
    7. Bernardo Batiz-Lazo & Thomas Krichel, 2005. "On-line distribution of working papers through NEP: A Brief Business History," Economic History 0505002, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Sune Karlsson & Thomas Krichel, 1999. "RePEc and S-WoPEc: Internet access to electronic preprints in Economics," RePEc and ReDIf documentation lindi, RePEc Team.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. The NEP-HIS Blog
      by bbatiz in NEP-HIS blog on 2010-01-16 22:30:13

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    Cited by:

    1. Bernardo Bátiz-Lazo, 2015. "A Dainty Review of the Business and Economic History of Chile and Latin America," Estudios de Economia, University of Chile, Department of Economics, vol. 42(2 Year 20), pages 5-16, December.
    2. Bernardo Batiz-Lazo & Rasol Eskandari & John Goddard, 2013. "Online publishing and citation success in the business and economic history of Spain, 1997-2011," Working Papers 13003, Bangor Business School, Prifysgol Bangor University (Cymru / Wales).
    3. Novarese, Marco & Wilson, Chris M., 2013. "Being in the Right Place: A Natural Field Experiment on List Position and Consumer Choice," MPRA Paper 48074, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    digital libraries; on-line communities; New Economic Papers (NEP); RePEc;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N8 - Economic History - - Micro-Business History
    • A31 - General Economics and Teaching - - Multisubject Collective Works - - - Multisubject Collected Writings of Individuals
    • L63 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Microelectronics; Computers; Communications Equipment

    Lists

    This item is featured on the following reading lists, Wikipedia, or ReplicationWiki pages:
    1. Research Papers in Economics in Wikipedia Spanish
    2. مقالات پژوهشی اقتصاد in Wikipedia Persian
    3. Research Papers in Economics in Wikipedia English

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