Understanding IT-Enabled Social Features in Online Peer-to-Peer Businesses for Cultural Goods

Although the use of IT-enabled social features is gaining prominence on online peer-to-peer platforms, the use of these features is not well understood in the context of e-commerce marketplaces. In this study, we explain the effects of using IT-enabled social features for sellers by using data from Etsy.com, which is an online peer-to-peer marketplace for cultural goods that provides social features to its participants. Using the theory of fields of cultural production, we propose hypotheses regarding the direct and indirect impact of IT-enabled social features on sales. We find that sellers’ use of IT-enabled social features for community participation (e.g., following members) and content curation (e.g., sharing favorite items) is positively associated with their online status, which in turn is positively associated with their sales. However, sellers’ use of IT-enabled social features is directly negatively associated with sales. Overall, we find that the indirect positive association is large enough to offset the negative direct association. These results have important implications for sellers on online peer-to-peer platforms and for platform design

EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED USEFULNESS, EASE OF USE, RISKS, AND INFORMATION QUALITY OF SALES PRODUCTIVITY APPS ON DSA’S BEHAVIOR

Technological advancements have brought innovation in the financial industry with various platforms. Although these platforms are easily accessible, some Indonesians are still reluctant to use them, hence the need for proper introduction and information delivery. Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms need to develop and implement applications that can monitor the activities and increase the productivity of direct sales agents (DSAs) to gain the trust of potential borrowers. This study analyses the influence of perceived usefulness, ease of use, risk, and information quality on the actual behaviour of DSAs when using sales productivity applications with behavioural intention as an intervening variable to be statistically processed using the Structural Equation Method. The questionnaire was distributed to DSAs of Modalku platform. The results showed that DSA's actual behaviour in using the application was significantly influenced by intention to use, perceived usefulness, ease of use, risk, and information quality. Perceived risk has the highest influence

EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED USEFULNESS, EASE OF USE, RISKS, AND INFORMATION QUALITY OF SALES PRODUCTIVITY APPS ON DSA’S BEHAVIOR

Technological advancements have brought innovation in the financial industry with various platforms. Although these platforms are easily accessible, some Indonesians are still reluctant to use them, hence the need for proper introduction and information delivery. Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms need to develop and implement applications that can monitor the activities and increase the productivity of direct sales agents (DSAs) to gain the trust of potential borrowers. This study analyses the influence of perceived usefulness, ease of use, risk, and information quality on the actual behaviour of DSAs when using sales productivity applications with behavioural intention as an intervening variable to be statistically processed using the Structural Equation Method. The questionnaire was distributed to DSAs of Modalku platform. The results showed that DSA's actual behaviour in using the application was significantly influenced by intention to use, perceived usefulness, ease of use, risk, and information quality. Perceived risk has the highest influence

An Analysis of the Recording Industry\u27s Litigation Strategy Against Direct Infringers

In the fall of 2003, suing direct infringers may have been the only recourse left to the recording industry. The industry faced a long-term trend of a decrease in sales, due largely to file-sharing. The decline in album sales following the inception of Napster, from 1999 through 2002, had been the most dramatic in the past 30 years. CD sales were down from $13.2 billion in 2000 to$11.2 billion in 2003. The industry\u27s victory in Napster was fleeting, as publicity over the issue increased awareness of peer-to-peer (P2P) technology and users flocked to decentralized networks like Grokster and KaZaa, making it more difficult to track P2P use. And in April 2003, the RIAA lost its case of contributory and vicarious infringement against Groskter in a California district court. In a desperate move to address the P2P epidemic, the recording industry filed a first round of lawsuits against its own fans in September 2003. In December 2003, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals\u27 decision in Verizon complicated the litigation process by prohibiting the RIAA from using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act\u27s (DMCA) subpoena provision to compel Internet service providers ( ISPs ) to disclose alleged infringers\u27 identities. Without the benefit of the DMCA\u27s subpoena provision, the RIAA must file John Doe suits using alleged offenders\u27 numerical IP addresses. Moreover, Doe defendants have made motions to quash subpoenas, raising First Amendment, privacy, personal jurisdiction and improper joinder claims. Finally, in the most recent setback for the RIAA\u27s litigation strategy, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals\u27 affirmed the district court\u27s decision in Grokster that P2P networks Grokster and Streamcast are not contributorily or vicariously liable for users\u27 direct infringement. Despite the above obstacles, the RIAA has proceeded, seemingly unfazed, in its litigation strategy. Its latest round of suits, in December 2004, targeted 754 more Does. This Article analyzes the effectiveness of the industry\u27s litigation strategy against direct infringers. Part I discusses the costs and benefits of the lawsuits, concluding that the benefits outweigh the costs. Part II offers suggestions for additional ways the recording industry can increase the efficiency of its enforcement efforts

Television: Peer-To-Peer’s Next Challenger

The entertainment industry has obsessed over the threat of peer-to-peer file sharing since the introduction of Napster in 1999. The sharing of television content may present a compelling case for fair use under the long-standing Betamax decision. Some argue that television sharing is fundamentally different than the distribution of music or movies since television is often distributed for free over public airwaves. However, a determination of fair use is unlikely because of the fundamental differences between recording a program and downloading it, recent regulation to suppress unauthorized content distribution and shifts in the television market brought on by new technology

The Structure of Debt and Active Equity Investors: The Case of the Buyout Specialist

This paper examines the role buyout specialists play in structuring the debt used to finance the LBO and in monitoring management in the post-LBO firm. We find that when buyout specialists control the majority of the post-LBO equity, the LBO transaction is likely to be financed with less short-term and/or senior debt and less likely to experience financial distress. We also find that buyout specialists have greater board representation on smaller boards, suggesting that they actively monitor managers, and that for these transactions, using debt with tighter terms does not significantly increase the firm\u27s performance. In contrast, in all other transactions using such debt does significantly increase the firm\u27s performance. These findings suggest that active monitoring by a buyout specialist substitutes for tighter debt terms in monitoring and motivating managers of LBOs

Employee Voice, Human Resource Practices, and Quit Rates: Evidence from the Telecommunications Industry

In this paper, we examine the predictors of aggregate quit rates at the establishment level. We draw on strategic human resource and industrial relations theory to identify the sets of employee voice mechanisms and human resource practices that are likely to predict quit rates. With respect to alternative voice mechanisms, we find that union representation significantly predicts lower quit rates after controlling for compensation and a wide range of other human resource practices that may be affected by collective bargaining. Direct participation via offline problem-solving groups and self-directed teams is significantly negatively related to quit rates,but non-union dispute resolution procedures are not. In addition, higher relative wages and internal promotion policies significantly predict lower quit rates, while contingent staffing, electronic monitoring, and variable pay predict significantly higher rates

Keeping Up with CEO Jones: Benchmarking and Executive Compensation

This paper seeks to understand the role that peer comparisons play in the determination of executive compensation. I exploit a recent change in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s regulations that requires firms to disclose the peer companies used for determining the compensation of their top executives. Using a new dataset of S&P 900 companies’ choice of benchmarking firms during two fiscal periods (2007 and 2008), I investigate what determines the choice of comparison firms. I find that companies have a preference for choosing larger and higher-CEO-compensation firms as their benchmark. Though I find that companies prefer to choose as their benchmark peers with similar firm characteristics, for CEO compensation, this effect is countered by a preference for firms with higher-than-own CEO compensation. Using the complete map of firms’ choices, I implement an instrumental variable strategy that uses the characteristics of peers-of-peers to estimate the effect of others’ compensation on own compensation. For Fiscal Year 2007, I find an elasticity of 0.5