Overcoming the monetization challenge in freemium online games

Purpose: Online games based on a freemium business model face the monetization challenge. The purpose of this paper is to examine how players’ achievement orientation, social orientation and sense of community contribute to willingness to pay (WtP). Design/methodology/approach: A multi-method study of an online game community is used. Interviews and participant observation are used to develop an understanding of social and achievement orientations followed by the development of hypotheses that are tested using survey data. Findings: The findings indicate that a sense of community is positively related to WtP, whereas satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the service provider is not. The authors examine the moderating role of players’ achievement orientation and social orientation and find that while a stronger connection to the community may encourage achievement-oriented players to pay, the opposite is indicated for socially oriented players. Practical implications: Decision makers need to understand that not all players are potential payers; while socially oriented users can help to maintain and grow the community, achievement-oriented players are more likely to pay for the value they extract from the community. Originality/value: While communities are held together by people with common interests, which intuitively suggests that WtP increases with the strength of connection to the community, the authors find this only applies in the case of players with an achievement orientation. For those with a social orientation, WtP may actually decrease as their connection to the community increases. These perhaps counter-intuitive findings constitute a novel contribution of value for both theory and practice

Nonconvex Nonsmooth Low-Rank Minimization via Iteratively Reweighted Nuclear Norm

The nuclear norm is widely used as a convex surrogate of the rank function in compressive sensing for low rank matrix recovery with its applications in image recovery and signal processing. However, solving the nuclear norm based relaxed convex problem usually leads to a suboptimal solution of the original rank minimization problem. In this paper, we propose to perform a family of nonconvex surrogates of $L_0$-norm on the singular values of a matrix to approximate the rank function. This leads to a nonconvex nonsmooth minimization problem. Then we propose to solve the problem by Iteratively Reweighted Nuclear Norm (IRNN) algorithm. IRNN iteratively solves a Weighted Singular Value Thresholding (WSVT) problem, which has a closed form solution due to the special properties of the nonconvex surrogate functions. We also extend IRNN to solve the nonconvex problem with two or more blocks of variables. In theory, we prove that IRNN decreases the objective function value monotonically, and any limit point is a stationary point. Extensive experiments on both synthesized data and real images demonstrate that IRNN enhances the low-rank matrix recovery compared with state-of-the-art convex algorithms

Econometrics of Machine Learning Methods in Economic Forecasting

This paper surveys the recent advances in machine learning method for economic forecasting. The survey covers the following topics: nowcasting, textual data, panel and tensor data, high-dimensional Granger causality tests, time series cross-validation, classification with economic losses

Methods for Evaluating the Value of Intangible Assets

Intangible assets, intellectual property, estimating cash flow, and rates of return are concerned with the inaccuracy and biases involved in predicting earnings and rates of return. Financial reporting is the major source of data utilized by economic forecasts, accountants, and financial managers to predict future cash flow and earnings (whether per share or in aggregate). However, the records and studies of analyst forecasts have produced often dismal performance. Previous studies focused on historical analysis of past earnings forecast methodology or on generating evidence that accrual accounting justifies better forecasting performance. Objections to these areas of study come in several forms. Justifying accrual accounting owing to poor performance of earnings forecasts may not be appropriate. Also, the financial reporting of intangible assets is often misleading or is not reported at all. Economic forecasters know that if the reporting of assets that greatly affect cash flow and, in turn, earnings forecasters is a serious source of error in forecasting. Using sophisticated models for forecasting with error adjustments may improve forecast accuracy as shown previously. In turn, the absence of studying intangible assets will still produce inaccurate results. Estimation theory will aid us in solving this problem and will induce accountants to properly report findings about intellectual property rights and similar assets. Analytics based of correct analysis of financial reports will make possible optimum decisions in the face of uncertainty

Parametric and Reliability Estimation of the Kumaraswamy Generalized Distribution Based on Record Values

A general family of distributions, namely Kumaraswamy generalized family of (Kw-G) distribution, is considered for estimation of the unknown parameters and reliability function based on record data from Kw-G distribution. The maximum likelihood estimators (MLEs) are derived for unknown parameters and reliability function, along with its confidence intervals. A Bayesian study is carried out under symmetric and asymmetric loss functions in order to find the Bayes estimators for unknown parameters and reliability function. Future record values are predicted using Bayesian approach and non Bayesian approach, based on numerical examples and a monte carlo simulation

The growing (good) bubbles: insights into US consumers of sparkling wine

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate sparkling wine consumption behavior and preferences of a large sample of US consumers (n=1,096) exploring the differences among genders and generational cohorts. Design/methodology/approach The sample has been drawn from Wine opinions, a specialized market research company with a large online panel of US wine consumers. Data were collected through a survey mailing model, administering a structured questionnaire. Findings Findings reveal that consumption frequency between genders is not statistically different and women generally prefer sparkling wines priced below $15. Baby Boomers is the generation with the lowest sparkling wine consumption frequency. Furthermore, Generation X and Baby Boomers have the highest consumption frequency in the price range$15\u2013$19.99, while Millennials in the$10\u2013$14.99 one. Originality/value The study sheds light on the changing consumer attitudes to create competitive advantages for wineries. Specifically, it provides valuable marketing insights into the peculiarities of sparkling wine consumption for each generation (e.g. price-point preferences and type of wine)

Evolution of the economics of science in the Twenty Century

Abstract. A new discipline analyses the role of science in society: the economics of scientific research. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the origins, nature, evolution and structure of the economics of scientific research. The paper suggests that one of the first scholars that has tried to systematize this discipline is Paul Freedman with the book “The principles of scientific research” published in London in 1949 by Pergamon Press. In addition, the study here also endeavours to show whenever possible the evolution of this discipline through central topics from emerging research fields.Keywords. Science, Scientific research, History of science, Evolution of Science, Research policy, Research laboratory, R&D management.JEL. B20, D80, L30