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Measuring the Welfare Gain from Personal Computers

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Abstract

The welfare gain to consumers from the introduction of personal computers is estimated here. A simple model of consumer demand is formulated that uses a slightly modified version of standard preferences. The modification permits marginal utility, and hence total utility, to be finite when the consumption of computers is zero. This implies that the good won't be consumed at a high enough price. It also bounds the consumer surplus derived from the product. The model is calibrated/estimated using standard national income and product account data. The welfare gain from the introduction of personal computers is in the range of 2 to 3 percent of consumption expenditure.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeremy Greenwood & Karen A. Kopecky, 2007. "Measuring the Welfare Gain from Personal Computers," Economie d'Avant Garde Research Reports 15, Economie d'Avant Garde.
  • Handle: RePEc:eag:rereps:15
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    1. Cofffe and Sugar
      by Leonardo Monasterio in Leonardo Monasterio's Blog on 2009-09-05 00:52:00
    2. Café com açúcar
      by Leonardo Monasterio in Blog do Leonardo Monasterio on 2009-09-04 15:12:00

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    Cited by:

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    2. Baruffaldi, Stefano H. & Di Maio, Giorgio & Landoni, Paolo, 2017. "Determinants of PhD holders’ use of social networking sites: An analysis based on LinkedIn," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 740-750.
    3. Tim Leunig & Joachim Voth, 2011. "Spinning Welfare: the Gains from Process Innovation in Cotton and Car Production," CEP Discussion Papers dp1050, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    4. Erik Brynjolfsson & Avinash Collis & Felix Eggers, 2019. "Using massive online choice experiments to measure changes in well-being," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116(15), pages 7250-7255, April.
    5. Andreas Chai, 2018. "Household consumption patterns and the sectoral composition of growing economies: A review of the interlinkages," Discussion Papers in Economics economics:201802, Griffith University, Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics.
    6. Watanabe, Chihiro & Tou, Yuji & Neittaanmäki, Pekka, 2020. "Institutional systems inducing R&D in Amazon- the role of an investor surplus toward stakeholder capitalization," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    7. Jonathan Hersh & Joachim Voth, 2009. "Sweet diversity: Colonial goods and the rise of European living standards after 1492," Economics Working Papers 1163, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Jan 2011.
    8. David Byrne & Carol Corrado, 2020. "Accounting for Innovations in Consumer Digital Services: IT Still Matters," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring and Accounting for Innovation in the Twenty-First Century, pages 471-517, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Jeremy Greenwood & Yueyuan Ma & Mehmet Yorukoglu, 2020. "`You Will:' A Macroeconomic Analysis of Digital Advertising," Economie d'Avant Garde Research Reports 32, Economie d'Avant Garde.
    10. Walid Hadhri & Mohamed Ayadi & Adel Ben Youssef, 2012. "Difference between Adoption and Access Frequency to Internet and Consumer Surplus," Post-Print halshs-00937177, HAL.
    11. Hersh, Jonathan & Voth, Hans-Joachim, 2022. "Sweet diversity: Colonial goods and the welfare gains from global trade after 1492," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    12. John Creedy, 2022. "Measuring the Welfare Gain from a New Good: An Introduction," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 55(3), pages 417-425, September.
    13. Jeremy Greenwood & Ricardo Marto, 2022. "Numerical Methods for Macroeconomists," Economie d'Avant Garde Research Reports 36, Economie d'Avant Garde.
    14. Smaranda Pantea & Bertin Martens, 2014. "The Value of the Internet for Consumers," JRC Working Papers on Digital Economy 2014-08, Joint Research Centre (Seville site).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Compensating Variation; Computers; Electricity; Equivalent Variation; Fisher Ideal Price Index; New Goods; Technological Progress; Tornqvist Price Index; Welfare Gain;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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