Graduate Student Tutorial and Winter Digitization Meetings, 2017

National Bureau Of Economic Research Inc, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

Digitization is the representation of information in bits. This technology has reduced the cost of storage, computation, and transmission of data. Research on the economics of digitization examines whether and how digital technology changes markets. The NBER Digitization Project, launched in 2010, is building the foundations for an economics-oriented research community that examines the causes and consequences of digitization. This research community is young, and off to a good start. However, despite the importance of the topic, it is challenging to attract elite economic graduate students to do research on the topic. Among the many challenges, there is no standard reading list or courses in the area. Students are not exposed to frontier topics at formative times, when they are choosing dissertation topics. Many graduate students also lack visible ?role models? in their immediate environment, who pursue related topics. The project seeks to address this gap by bringing 50 graduate students to a two-day tutorial immediately preceding the winter meetings of the NBER digitization program in March 2017. The tutorial introduces graduate students to overviews of this young frontier area of research. In particular, the tutorial involves a combination of lectures by research leaders and small group discussions led by faculty. The students then attend the winter meetings of the NBER digitization program, which involves presentation of frontier research by six researchers and discussants. The project therefore gives graduate students exposure to a sampling of frontier research in this area, and enables them to have face-to-face time with research leaders. In this way, students are exposed to frontier topics and can identify visible role models. Building a research community that studies the economics of digitization is important for effective Science and Innovation Policy. Such policy requires a deep understanding of the consequences of digitization for markets and for policy. By building this research community, PhD student workshops help develop a broader understanding of digitization and therefore directly contribute to the Science of Science and Innovation Policy. Digitization reduces some economic frictions and increases others. Understanding the underlying microeconomics of how the technology affects economic agents informs analysis of the welfare and policy implications. Areas of science and innovation policy related to digitization include (1) copyright, (2) software innovation, (3) big data, (4) digital platform regulation, (5) citizen science, (6) scientific communication, (7) communications infrastructure, (8) privacy, and others. Increasing research in the economics of digitization generates recognizable independent academic voices on these important areas of policy.