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The pricing of academic journals: A two-sided market perspective

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  • Doh-Shin Jeon
  • Jean-Charles Rochet

Abstract

More and more academic journals adopt an open-access policy, by which articles are accessible free of charge, while publication costs are recovered through author fees. We study the consequences of this open access policy on a journal’s quality standard. If the journal’s objective was to maximize social welfare, open access would be optimal as long as the positive externalities generated by its diffusion exceed the marginal cost of distribution. However, we show that if an open access journal has a different objective (such as maximizing readers’ payoffs, the impact of the journal or its profit), it tends to choose a quality standard below the socially efficient level.

Suggested Citation

  • Doh-Shin Jeon & Jean-Charles Rochet, 2007. "The pricing of academic journals: A two-sided market perspective," Economics Working Papers 1025, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Apr 2009.
    • Handle: RePEc:upf:upfgen:1025
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Jean-Charles Rochet & Jean Tirole, 2002. "Cooperation Among Competitors: Some Economics Of Payment Card Associations," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 33(4), pages 549-570, Winter.
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    6. Doh-Shin Jeon & Domenico Menicucci, 2006. "Bundling Electronic Journals and Competition among Publishers," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 4(5), pages 1038-1083, September.
    7. Jean-Charles Rochet Author-Email:rochet@cict.fr Author-Workplace-Name: IDEI, University of Toulouse & Jean Tirole Author-Email: tirole@cict.fr Author-Workplace-Name: IDEI, University of Toulouse, 2006. "Two-Sided Markets: A Progress Report," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 37(3), pages 645-667, Autumn.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Academic Journals; Open-Access; Reader-Pays; Two-Sided Market; Endogenous Quality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D42 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Monopoly
    • L44 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Antitrust Policy and Public Enterprise, Nonprofit Institutions, and Professional Organizations
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media

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