Richard Schmalensee – författare

The definitive account of the trillion-dollar payment card industry.

The payment card business has evolved from its inception in the 1950s as a way to handle payment for expense-account lunches (the Diners Club card) into today''s complex, sprawling industry that drives trillions of dollars in transaction volume each year. Paying with Plastic is the definitive source on an industry that has revolutionized the way we borrow and spend. More than a history book, Paying with Plastic delivers an entertaining discussion of the impact of an industry that epitomizes the notion of two-sided markets: those in which two or more customer groups receive value only if all sides are actively engaged. New to this second edition, the two-sided market discussion provides useful insight into the implications of these market dynamics for cardholder rewards, merchant interchange fees, and card acceptance. The authors, both of whom have researched the industry for more than 25 years, also examine the implications of the recent antitrust cases on the industry as well as other business and technological changes—including the massive consolidation brought about by bank mergers, the rise of the debit card, and the emergence of e-commerce—that could alter the payment card industry dramatically in the years to come.

Harnessing the power of software platforms: what executives and entrepreneurs must know about how to use this technology to transform industries and how to develop the strategies that will create value and drive profits.

Software platforms are the invisible engines that have created, touched, or transformed nearly every major industry for the past quarter century. They power everything from mobile phones and automobile navigation systems to search engines and web portals. They have been the source of enormous value to consumers and helped some entrepreneurs build great fortunes. And they are likely to drive change that will dwarf the business and technology revolution we have seen to this point. Invisible Engines examines the business dynamics and strategies used by firms that recognize the transformative power unleashed by this new revolution—a revolution that will change both new and old industries.

The authors argue that in order to understand the successes of software platforms, we must first understand their role as a technological meeting ground where application developers and end users converge. Apple, Microsoft, and Google, for example, charge developers little or nothing for using their platforms and make most of their money from end users; Sony PlayStation and other game consoles, by contrast, subsidize users and make more money from developers, who pay royalties for access to the code they need to write games. More applications attract more users, and more users attract more applications. And more applications and more users lead to more profits.

Invisible Engines explores this story through the lens of the companies that have mastered this platform-balancing act. It offers detailed studies of the personal computer, video game console, personal digital assistant, smart mobile phone, and digital media software platform industries, focusing on the business decisions made by industry players to drive profits and stay a step ahead of the competition. Shorter discussions of Internet-based software platforms provide an important glimpse into a future in which the way we buy, pay, watch, listen, learn, and communicate will change forever. An electronic version of this book is available under a Creative Commons license.

Software platforms are the invisible engines that have created, touched, or transformed nearly every major industry for the past quarter century. They power everything from mobile phones and automobile navigation systems to search engines and web portals. They have been the source of enormous value to consumers and helped some entrepreneurs build great fortunes. And they are likely to drive change that will dwarf the business and technology revolution we have seen to this point. Invisible Engines examines the business dynamics and strategies used by firms that recognize the transformative power unleashed by this new revolution—a revolution that will change both new and old industries.

The authors argue that in order to understand the successes of software platforms, we must first understand their role as a technological meeting ground where application developers and end users converge. Apple, Microsoft, and Google, for example, charge developers little or nothing for using their platforms and make most of their money from end users; Sony PlayStation and other game consoles, by contrast, subsidize users and make more money from developers, who pay royalties for access to the code they need to write games. More applications attract more users, and more users attract more applications. And more applications and more users lead to more profits.

Invisible Engines explores this story through the lens of the companies that have mastered this platform-balancing act. It offers detailed studies of the personal computer, video game console, personal digital assistant, smart mobile phone, and digital media software platform industries, focusing on the business decisions made by industry players to drive profits and stay a step ahead of the competition. Shorter discussions of Internet-based software platforms provide an important glimpse into a future in which the way we buy, pay, watch, listen, learn, and communicate will change forever. An electronic version of this book is available under a Creative Commons license.

This handbook serves as a source, reference, and teaching supplement for industrial organization (or industrial economics), the broad field within microeconomics that focuses on business behavior and its implications both for market structures and processes, and for public policies towards them. Comprehensive and up-to-date surveys are provided of recent developments and the state of knowledge in the major areas of research in this field as of the latter part of the 1980's, written at a level suitable for use by non-specialist economists and students on advanced graduate courses. Each chapter can be read independently, although they are organized into sections.

This handbook serves as a source, reference, and teaching supplement for industrial organization (or industrial economics), the broad field within microeconomics that focuses on business behavior and its implications both for market structures and processes, and for public policies towards them. Comprehensive and up-to-date surveys are provided of recent developments and the state of knowledge in the major areas of research in this field as of the latter part of the 1980's, written at a level suitable for use by non-specialist economists and students on advanced graduate courses. Each chapter can be read independently, although they are organized into sections.

Reflecting its reliance on fossil fuels, the electric power industry produces the majority of the world''s greenhouse gas emissions. The need for a revolution in the industry becomes further apparent given that ''decarbonization'' means an increasing electrification of other sectors of the economy in particular, through a switch from gasoline to electric vehicles. Of the options for producing electric power without significant greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy is most attractive to policymakers, as it promises increased national self-reliance on energy supplies and the creation of new industries and jobs, without the safety and political concerns of nuclear power or the unproven technology of carbon capture and storage.

Drawing on both economic theory and the experiences of the United States and EU member states, Harnessing Renewable Energy addresses the key questions surrounding renewable energy policies. How appropriate is the focus on renewable power as a primary tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions? If renewable energy is given specific support, what form should that support take? What are the implications for power markets if renewable generation is widely adopted? Thorough and well-evidenced, this book will be of interest to a broad range of policymakers, the electric power industry, and economists who study energy and environmental issues.

Reflecting its reliance on fossil fuels, the electric power industry produces the majority of the world''s greenhouse gas emissions. The need for a revolution in the industry becomes further apparent given that ''decarbonization'' means an increasing electrification of other sectors of the economy in particular, through a switch from gasoline to electric vehicles. Of the options for producing electric power without significant greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy is most attractive to policymakers, as it promises increased national self-reliance on energy supplies and the creation of new industries and jobs, without the safety and political concerns of nuclear power or the unproven technology of carbon capture and storage.

Drawing on both economic theory and the experiences of the United States and EU member states, Harnessing Renewable Energy addresses the key questions surrounding renewable energy policies. How appropriate is the focus on renewable power as a primary tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions? If renewable energy is given specific support, what form should that support take? What are the implications for power markets if renewable generation is widely adopted? Thorough and well-evidenced, this book will be of interest to a broad range of policymakers, the electric power industry, and economists who study energy and environmental issues.

A different kind of matchmaker.

This book explores the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Ohio et al. v. American Express, and the preceding litigation, for the treatment of multisided platforms under U.S. antitrust law. It is based on a series of articles that the authors wrote (either jointly or individually), leading up to and in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision.

The authors consider that the Supreme Court ruling provides valuable guidance for antitrust analysis in such markets. This book emphasizes the importance for enforcers and the judiciary to take full account of the multisided nature of certain markets, not only in payment services, but throughout the economy (including other types of multisided platforms, which are particularly common in online digital markets).

Although Evans and Schmalensee agree with the Supreme Court’s reasoning, this book nonetheless sets out criticisms of the Supreme Court’s ruling. The authors address such criticisms, based on our (and other legal and economic practitioners’ and academics’) understanding of the modern economic theories on multisided markets. In particular, Schmalensee underline the need for decisionmakers to take into account any alleged anticompetitive harm and benefits to participants on both sides of a multisided platform, before coming to any conclusion that there has been antitrust injury as a result of any given conduct.

Of particular importance, and emphasized throughout this book, is the need to undertake a full rule of reason analysis of conduct in multisided markets, consistent with both long-standing antitrust precedent and modern economic theory. A proper assessment must take into account the multisided nature of certain markets in all steps of antitrust analysis, whether the issue at hand relates to alleged monopolization, coordinated behavior, or a merger. Given the prevalence of multisided platforms, similar allegations of antitrust harm are sure to arise time and again in the years to come, and there are many unanswered questions. 

For convenience, as Appendices, the books also includes the text of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling, an amicus brief filed jointly by 28 antitrust professors, an amicus brief filed jointly by 8 economists, and the brief filed by the U.S. on behalf of the petitioners.