Are We Wise About Sub-Fields in IS? Lessons from Forming and Sustaining a Research Community

Sub-fields within I.S. generate benefits for their participants and for the larger research discipline. Sub-fields can also fragment and compete with the broad field they emerge from. One of the largest and most active research groups in the ICIS community is the researchers examining Information Systems Economics. After 20 years of the Workshop on Information Systems and Economics (WISE), this is a moment to identify what sub-fields contribute in I.S. and look forward to what sub-fields can do for ICIS researchers and I.S. practice in the future

Optimal Stopping in Levy Models, for Non-Monotone Discontinuous Payoffs

We give short proofs of general theorems about optimal entry and exit problems in Levy models, when payoff streams may have discontinuities and be non-monotone. As applications, we consider exit and entry problems in the theory of real options, and an entry problem with an embedded option to exit

Vertical Differentiation and a Comparison of Online Advertising Models

Designing business models that take into consideration the role of advertising support is critical to the success of online services. In this paper, we address the challenges of these business model strategies and compare different ad revenue models. We use game theory to model vertical differentiation in both monopoly and duopoly settings, in which online service providers may offer an ad-free service, an ad-supported service, or a combination of these services. Offering both ad-free and ad-supported services is the optimal strategy for a monopolist because ad revenues compensate for the cannibalistic effect of vertical differentiation. In a duopoly equilibrium, exactly one firm offers both services when the ad revenue rate is sufficiently high. Furthermore, we find that a higher ad revenue rate may lead to lower service prices. Consistently across both monopoly and duopoly settings, such price reductions are more severe in the cost-per-thousand-impressions model than in the cost-per-click model. Our findings emphasize the role of advertising revenues in vertical differentiation and offer strategic guidance for monetizing online services. © 2012 M.E. Sharpe, Inc. All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex