Consumers' Dynamic Switching Decisions in the Cellular Service Industry

This paper develops an empirical framework to analyze consumer's dynamic switching decision in the cellular service industry. It first incorporates the sequential problem of quantity, plan and firm subscription choice in the presence of switching costs into a dynamic structural model, which allows for fully heterogeneous consumers and multiple switching possibilities across networks. The model is estimated using the data set on the number of switching consumers and the evolution of observed plan/firm characteristics over time. Based on the BLP-style estimation methods, we combine a nested technique that uses parametric assumptions with the structural estimation algorithm. The magnitude of switching costs is estimated and it turns out that switching costs vary across networks. A dynamic model with restricted number of switching is likely to underestimate the switching costs. Lower switching costs encourage consumers to switch relatively early. Change in the variety of optional plans and plan characteristics also play a great role in the consumers' switching decision

Practicing Intersectionality in Spain

Intersectionality has become a very popular term in academic, policy and activist circles. We understand intersectionality as a theoretical project concerned with elucidating the re-lationships between different principles of inequality and oppression. We identify three conceptual moves that distinguish intersectionality from other theoretical frameworks about inequality and power: a movement from additive to interactive models, a movement from categorical to process-based frameworks, and a movement from autonomous individu-als to embedded social relations as foundations for social theory. We deploy examples re-lated to the paid domestic work in Spain to demonstrate the usefulness of these conceptual moves.El término interseccionalidad se ha vuelto muy popular en círculos académicos, políticos y activistas. Las autoras entienden la interseccionalidad como un proyecto teórico que busca analizar el modo en que distintas formas de desigualdad y opresión social se relacionan en-tre si. Las autoras identifican tres movimientos conceptuales que marcan este proyecto: sustituir modelos aditivos por modelos interactivos, reemplazar marcos teóricos que se ba-san en categorías sociales por modelos teóricos basados en procesos sociales, y tomar las relaciones sociales -y no la idea del individuo autónomo- como la unidad de análisis básica para construir teoría social. Las autoras ilustran el proyecto teórico y las implicaciones de los movimientos conceptuales a partir del análisis del trabajo doméstico en España

ICT Use in the Developing World An Analysis of Differences in Computerand Internet Penetration

Computer and Internet use, especially in developing countries, has expanded rapidly in recent years. Even in light of this expansion in technology adoption rates, penetration rates differ markedly between developed and developing countries and across developing countries. To identify the determinants of cross-country disparities in personal computer and Internet penetration, both currently and over time, we examine panel data for 161 countries over the 1999-2004 period. We explore the role of a comprehensive set of economic, demographic, infrastructure, institutional and financial factors in contributing to the global digital divide. We find evidence indicating that income, human capital, the youth dependency ratio, telephone density, legal quality and banking sector development are associated with technology penetration rates. Overall, the factors associated with computer and Internet penetration do not differ substantially between developed and developing countries. Estimates from Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions reveal that the main factors responsible for low rates of technology penetration rates in developing countries are disparities in income, telephone density, legal quality and human capital. In terms of dynamics, our results indicate fairly rapid reversion to long run equilibrium for Internet use, and somewhat slower reversion for computer use, particularly in developed economies. Financial development, either measured as bank lending or the value of stocks traded, is also important to the growth rate of Internet use