Andreea Gorbatai | Harvard Business School (original) (raw)
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University of the Basque Country, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
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Papers by Andreea Gorbatai
Economic markets align supply and demand through prices. However, many social phenomena lack pric... more Economic markets align supply and demand through prices. However, many social phenomena lack pricing to inform producers about consumer demand. This can lead to the over or under-production of certain goods and services. In this paper, I propose a simple social mechanism that aligns collective production with demand. I argue that this will occur as long as three conditions are met: first, that consumers attempt to become occasional producers; second, that these attempts are observed by producers who interpret them as signs of unmet demand; and last, that producers are willing and capable of providing these goods. I test this theory using a large dataset on English Wikipedia articles, created by merging information on article production, views, quality, and knowledge type. The results are consistent with my theory, suggesting that this simple social mechanism can take the role of prices in certain markets. This study has implications for the sociology of markets by highlighting a largely ignored collective action-demand alignment mechanism; and for collective production in organizational and non-organizational settings such as collective creativity, scientific collaboration, and community production of collective goods by identifying an unexpected benefit from consumer contributions.
This study examines the social mechanisms reinforcing participant commitment to collaborative wor... more This study examines the social mechanisms reinforcing participant commitment to collaborative work. Previous literature either ignores the wider context of individual workplace commitments or suggests that multiple concurrent work and life commitments can place too high a demand ...
Economic markets align supply and demand through prices. However, many social phenomena lack pric... more Economic markets align supply and demand through prices. However, many social phenomena lack pricing to inform producers about consumer demand. This can lead to the over or under-production of certain goods and services. In this paper, I propose a simple social mechanism that aligns collective production with demand. I argue that this will occur as long as three conditions are met: first, that consumers attempt to become occasional producers; second, that these attempts are observed by producers who interpret them as signs of unmet demand; and last, that producers are willing and capable of providing these goods. I test this theory using a large dataset on English Wikipedia articles, created by merging information on article production, views, quality, and knowledge type. The results are consistent with my theory, suggesting that this simple social mechanism can take the role of prices in certain markets. This study has implications for the sociology of markets by highlighting a largely ignored collective action-demand alignment mechanism; and for collective production in organizational and non-organizational settings such as collective creativity, scientific collaboration, and community production of collective goods by identifying an unexpected benefit from consumer contributions.
This study examines the social mechanisms reinforcing participant commitment to collaborative wor... more This study examines the social mechanisms reinforcing participant commitment to collaborative work. Previous literature either ignores the wider context of individual workplace commitments or suggests that multiple concurrent work and life commitments can place too high a demand ...