Back to software "profitable piracy": the role of information diffusion

Can software piracy be profitable for a software editor? We tackle this issue in a simple model where software is an experience good and where the potential users can choose to adopt or pirate software or to delay their adoption. In that context, we show that a moderate piracy can be profitable for a software editor to foster users' adoption.

Back to software "profitable piracy": the role of information diffusion

Can software piracy be profitable for a software editor? We tackle this issue in a simple model where software is an experience good and where the potential users can choose to adopt or pirate software or to delay their adoption. In that context, we show that a moderate piracy can be profitable for a software editor to foster users' adoption.

Publisher's Announcements and Piracy-Monitoring Devices in Software Adoption

à paraître dans les Annales d'Economie et de StatistiqueInternational audienceIn this paper, we investigate the distribution strategy of a software publisher. The user adoption context is characterized by uncertainty about quality (experience good) and heterogeneous piracy costs. Users can purchase or get unauthorized/illegal copies (digital piracy) of the software during two periods (or not adopt at all). Between these two periods, users can acquire information through word-of-mouth. To maximize profit, the publisher needs to decide about price, quality and level of monitoring of piracy. We show that the software publisher can profit from accommodation a certain level of piracy of the product. We add to the literature by explicitly considering the opportunity for the publisher to cheat about future price and monitoring levels (misleading announcements). This strategy that is falsely permissive towards piracy, can sometimes appear more profitable. However, when the degree of sophistication of user expectations about the publisher's strategy increases, only a strategy that is permissive (with respect to piracy) with non misleading announcements remains robust

LENDING ROBOTS AND HUMAN CROWDS: INTEREST RATE DETERMINATION ON A REVERSE AUCTION PLATFORM

We analyze the determinants of the level of interest rates related to business loans traded on digital crowdlending platforms. We consider one of the leading platforms in France and collect-ed original data on all the projects financed via this platform. On that platform, interest rates are set by the crowd of investors through a reverse auction process. We show that the loan characteristics and the scoring provided by the platform significantly influences the interest rate. However, though financial ratios are used traditionally to estimate credit risk, those ratios do not exhibit significant influence. Besides, we analyze the impact of the recent implementation of an automated auction mechanism. This implementation seems to have a large impact on both auction duration and on the determinants of interest rate. This suggests that use of a robot im-pacts on price and saving allocation on this platform-based credit market

Experimental pathology of local tissue damage induced by Bothrops asper snake venom

Envenomations by Bothrops asper are often associated with complex and severe local pathological manifestations, including edema, blistering, dermonecrosis, myonecrosis and hemorrhage. The pathogenesis of these alterations has been investigated at the experimental level. These effects are mostly the consequence of the direct action of zinc-dependent metalloproteinases (SVMPs) and myotoxic phospholipases A2 (PLA2s). SVMPs induce hemorrhage, blistering, dermonecrosis and general extracellular matrix degradation, whereas PLA2s induce myonecrosis and also affect lymphatic vessels. In addition, the prominent vascular alterations leading to hemorrhage and edema may contribute to ischemia and further tissue necrosis. The mechanisms of action of SVMPs and PLA2s are discussed in detail in this review. Venom-induced tissue damage plays also a role in promoting bacterial infection. A prominent inflammatory reaction develops as a consequence of these local pathological alterations, with the synthesis and release of abundant mediators, resulting in edema and pain. However, whether inflammatory cells and mediators contribute to further tissue damage is not clear at present. Muscle tissue regeneration after venom-induced pathological effects is often impaired, thus resulting in permanent tissue loss and dysfunction. SVMP-induced microvessel damage is likely to be responsible of this poor regenerative outcome. Antivenoms are only partially effective in the neutralization of B. asper-induced local effects, and the search for novel toxin inhibitors represents a potential avenue for improving the treatment of this serious aspect of snakebite envenomation.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias de la Salud::Instituto Clodomiro Picado (ICP

Le face-à-face OGM - agriculture biologique en Europe : entre réglementation et recommandation

Le Règlement Européen 834/2007, en charge de définir le label Biologique européen depuis janvier 2009, autorise un seuil de 0,9 % de présence fortuite d'OGM dans les produits Biologiques (Bio). Un seuil d'OGM différent de zéro permet aux agriculteurs de préserver leur label dans le cas d'une faible contamination OGM mais risque de discréditer une filière de réputation " sans OGM ". Dans la Recommandation 2003/556/CE la Commission européenne propose de faire supporter aux agriculteurs d'OGM les mesures de protection visant à limiter la contamination OGM - principe dit du newcomer - mais laisse le choix aux États membres d'appliquer ce principe. Ce papier présente une analyse économique des conséquences de ce seuil d'OGM sur le bien-être de la société avec et sans le principe du newcomer. Il étudie comment le régulateur impartial, face à des consommateurs hétérogènes, détermine le seuil d'OGM autorisé pour assurer la coexistence des deux formes d'agriculture, en tenant compte du discrédit mais aussi de la flexibilité qu'il engendre pour le maintien du label Bio. Après avoir défini les conditions de la coexistence des agricultures, nous montrons que i) le seuil d'OGM devrait être différent de zéro lorsque les agriculteurs Bio supportent les mesures de coexistence et que ii) le seuil d'OGM autorisé devrait être nul lorsque le principe du newcomer est retenu dans la réglementation

Enchères, notation et fixation du taux d’intérêt par la foule: Le cas d’une plateforme de crowdlending

International audienceLes auteurs étudient la formation du taux d’intérêt à partir de données originales collectées sur une plateforme française de crowdlending, caractérisée par un mécanisme d’enchères inversées. Ils montrent que les informations financières expertes classiquement utilisées en analyse du risque crédit ont un pouvoir explicatif très limité sur le niveau des taux d’intérêt obtenus. À l’inverse, la notation proposée par la plateforme et ne nécessitant pas d’expertise présente une influence significative, à plus forte raison après l’activation d’un robot d’automatisation des enchères

Lending Robots and Human Crowds : Interest rate determination on a reverse auction platform

International audienc