Elad Harison - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Elad Harison
Assessing the Performance of Airline Web Sites: The ARTFLY Case (9781605669823): Elad Harison, Al... more Assessing the Performance of Airline Web Sites: The ARTFLY Case (9781605669823): Elad Harison, Albert Boonstra: Book Chapters.
Intellectual property rights (IPR) have been created as economic mechanisms to facilitate ongoing... more Intellectual property rights (IPR) have been created as economic mechanisms to facilitate ongoing innovation by granting inventors a temporary monopoly in return for disclosure of technical knowhow. Since the beginning of 1980s, IPR have come under scrutiny as new technological paradigms appeared with the emergence of knowledge-based industries. Knowledge-based products are intangible, non-excludable and non-rivalrous goods. Consequently, it is difficult for their creators to control their dissemination and use. In particular, many information goods are based on network externalities and on the creation of market standards. At the same time, information technologies are generic in the sense of being useful in many places in the economy. Hence, policy makers often define current IPR regimes in the context of new technologies as both overand under-protective. They are over-protective in the sense that they prevent the dissemination of information which has a very high social value; they are under-protective in the sense that they do not provide strong control over the appropriation of rents from their invention and thus may not provide strong incentives to innovate. During the 1980s, attempts to assess the role of IPR in the process of technological learning have found that even though firms in high-tech sectors do use patents as part of their strategy for intellectual property protection, the reliance of these sectors on patents as an information source for innovation is lower than in traditional industries. Intellectual property rights are based mainly on patents for technical inventions and on copyrights for artistic works. Patents are granted only if inventions display minimal levels of utility, novelty and nonobviousness of technical know-how. By contrast, copyrights protect only final works and their derivatives, but guarantee protection for longer periods, according to the Berne Convention. Licensing is a legal aid that allows the use of patented technology by other firms, in return for royalty fees paid to the inventor. Licensing can be contracted on an exclusive or non-exclusive basis, but in most countries patented knowledge can be exclusively held by its inventors, as legal provisions for compulsory licensing of technologies do not exist. The fair use doctrine aims to prevent formation of perfect monopolies over technological fields and copyrighted artefacts as a result of IPR application. Hence, the use of patented and copyrighted works is permissible in academic research, education and the development of technologies that are complimentary to core technologies. Trade secrecy is meant to prevent inadvertent technology transfer to rival firms and is based on contracts between companies and employees. However, as trade secrets prohibit transfer of knowledge within industries, regulators have attempted to foster disclosure of technical know-how by institutional means of patents, copyrights and sui-generis laws. And indeed, following the provisions formed by IPR regulation, firms have shifted from methods of trade secrecy towards patenting strategies to achieve improved protection of intellectual property, as well as means to acquire competitive advantages in the market by monopolization of technological advances. This paper is drawn from a report commissioned by AWT (Adviesraad voor het Wetenschaps-en Technologiebeleid) published as AWT Background Study No. 21 (June, 2001).
Review of Business Information Systems, Sep 28, 2011
ABSTRACT
Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Apr 8, 2008
Intellectual property rights (IPR) have been created as economic mechanisms to facilitate ongoing... more Intellectual property rights (IPR) have been created as economic mechanisms to facilitate ongoing innovation by granting inventors a temporary monopoly in return for disclosure of technical knowhow. Since the beginning of 1980s, IPR have come under scrutiny as new technological paradigms appeared with the emergence of knowledge-based industries. Knowledge-based products are intangible, non-excludable and non-rivalrous goods. Consequently, it is difficult for their creators to control their dissemination and use. In particular, many information goods are based on network externalities and on the creation of market standards. At the same time, information technologies are generic in the sense of being useful in many places in the economy. Hence, policy makers often define current IPR regimes in the context of new technologies as both overand under-protective. They are over-protective in the sense that they prevent the dissemination of information which has a very high social value; they are under-protective in the sense that they do not provide strong control over the appropriation of rents from their invention and thus may not provide strong incentives to innovate. During the 1980s, attempts to assess the role of IPR in the process of technological learning have found that even though firms in high-tech sectors do use patents as part of their strategy for intellectual property protection, the reliance of these sectors on patents as an information source for innovation is lower than in traditional industries. Intellectual property rights are based mainly on patents for technical inventions and on copyrights for artistic works. Patents are granted only if inventions display minimal levels of utility, novelty and nonobviousness of technical know-how. By contrast, copyrights protect only final works and their derivatives, but guarantee protection for longer periods, according to the Berne Convention. Licensing is a legal aid that allows the use of patented technology by other firms, in return for royalty fees paid to the inventor. Licensing can be contracted on an exclusive or non-exclusive basis, but in most countries patented knowledge can be exclusively held by its inventors, as legal provisions for compulsory licensing of technologies do not exist. The fair use doctrine aims to prevent formation of perfect monopolies over technological fields and copyrighted artefacts as a result of IPR application. Hence, the use of patented and copyrighted works is permissible in academic research, education and the development of technologies that are complimentary to core technologies. Trade secrecy is meant to prevent inadvertent technology transfer to rival firms and is based on contracts between companies and employees. However, as trade secrets prohibit transfer of knowledge within industries, regulators have attempted to foster disclosure of technical know-how by institutional means of patents, copyrights and sui-generis laws. And indeed, following the provisions formed by IPR regulation, firms have shifted from methods of trade secrecy towards patenting strategies to achieve improved protection of intellectual property, as well as means to acquire competitive advantages in the market by monopolization of technological advances. This paper is drawn from a report commissioned by AWT (Adviesraad voor het Wetenschaps-en Technologiebeleid) published as AWT Background Study No. 21 (June, 2001).
Review of Business Information Systems, Aug 8, 2013
ABSTRACT
The impacts of the New Economy are not limited only to recently developed technologies, but invol... more The impacts of the New Economy are not limited only to recently developed technologies, but involve new opportunities for more "traditional" technologies to develop. Knowledge-based industries, and information technologies in particular, hold both promises and threats in many fields. However, as technical know-how is both an input to and an output of knowledge-based industries, IPR regimes may have a large effect on the pace of innovation in knowledge-based technologies. Knowledge is a stimulus for innovation, particularly in knowledge-based technologies where large shares of technical know-how are embedded in final goods. Information goods are described as public goods: if information is disclosed to the public, its originator loses the advantages of propriety, but a new generation of know-how and ideas is stimulated and expanded as a result of its publication. However, knowledge is not legally a public good because unauthorized reproduction can be monitored by IPR. Whether IPR regimes facilitate innovation or reduce its pace has been raised as a pressing issue by the emergence of new technological paradigms and recent economic changes, namely the New Economy. This paper discusses four technologies which are emblematic of the new economy, and which raise important issues regarding IPRs. The technologies presented in this report were selected for analysis on three criteria. First, they are predicted to see rapid evolution during the coming decade and to hold a major share of both economic activity and growth. Second, these technologies are knowledge-based and most have been developed since the mid 1980s. Third, in the context of the technologies discussed here, the current design of IPR regimes seems to conflict with their original aims, namely fostering innovation and technological diffusion by promoting knowledge disclosure and granting monopoly. This report also reviews alternative economic and business models that question the need to protect information goods by IPRs. This paper is drawn from a report commissioned by AWT (Adviesraad voor het Wetenschaps-en Technologiebeleid) published as an AWT Background Study No. 22 (June, 2001).
Journal of Business Case Studies (JBCS), 2011
ABSTRACT
Review of Business Information Systems (RBIS), 2015
The growing trends of immigration and international population movements worldwide emphasize issu... more The growing trends of immigration and international population movements worldwide emphasize issues of the naturalization efforts of immigrants in their new nation, while sustaining their ties to their homeland via the Internet. The paper analyzes the potential of Internet-based regional broadcasting to enhance the attachment of communities of immigrants to their regional identity and culture. A case study conducted at the Dutch Omrop Fryslân radio broadcasting station, and within the communities of its listeners inland and abroad, provides useful insights into the potential role of regional broadcasting as a glocal (i.e. both locally related and globally transmitted) medium of communication in the Internet era. Finally, conclusions on the role of regional public broadcasting stations that transmit via the Internet as a bridgehead to communities of immigrants, and on the glocal nature of their contents, are drawn.
Review of Business Information Systems (RBIS), 2013
ABSTRACT
Review of Business Information Systems (RBIS), 2011
ABSTRACT
Journal of Business Economics Research, Oct 26, 2012
ABSTRACT
Journal of Business & Economics Research (JBER), 2012
ABSTRACT
Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 2004
Major firms have joined the Open Source movement and choose to apply its development methodology ... more Major firms have joined the Open Source movement and choose to apply its development methodology in their projects. Our model examines the links between open-ness and innovation in software platforms by analyzing how disclosure affects the technical quality of software and the profits of myopic and far-sighted firms. Our model analyzes the degree of disclosure, under various pricing strategies of the firm, that should be implemented to obtain maximal profits. Further, we reveal how social welfare of users, in terms of technical quality of the software that they implement, corresponds to profit-maximizing decisions of the firm. As the firm impels towards maximizing its profits in the short and in the long run, higher profits and technical quality of the software may be achieved at the cost of lower degree of openness. Policy makers may tolerate this effect on innovation by providing incentives to Open Source developers and users or by sponsoring free-software consortia.
The large legal and economic literature on intellectual property rights (IPRs) presents contradic... more The large legal and economic literature on intellectual property rights (IPRs) presents contradictory arguments on the efficiency of the legal regime to promote innovation and technical change in information technologies. On one extreme, limited protection of intellectual assets enables rivals to imitate innovations with a little effort and to remove part of the revenues of inventors. A lack of intellectual property regimes would decrease the propensity of firms to invest in R&D and in the long run may slow down the development of technologies and hamper innovation. On the other extreme, over-protective regimes provide strong monopoly rights and dominance over broad shares of the technology and/or for long periods. Patent-holders are able to pre-empt other firms from introducing new products that fall into the scope of valid patents. Therefore, patens enable the introduction of technological advances by other firms only in non-infringing features of patented products and, hence, reduce product differentiation. The dimensions of the legal regime that are studied in this paper are the length and minimal inventive step of patents. We aim at identifying the desirable structure of the regime in which maximal technological progress is achieved. We construct a simulation model of a market of heterogeneous users and firms to analyze the evolution of information technologies. The dynamics of innovation is described as a series of sequential, cumulative advances in the technical qualities of features. The paper identifies the relationships between different degrees of patent protection and market dynamics (in terms of technical quality, diffusion, firms' behaviour and market organization). The minimal inventive step and the duration are the policy parameters whose influence on innovation is assessed by the model. The results of the model suggest that in the current patent regime the legal provisions are to a large extent over-protective and may result in a slowdown in the advance of software technologies. The policy implications of the model go beyond assessing the effects of extending the patent regime to include information technologies in its scope. The analysis provides a wide-ranging instrument that assists policy makers in evaluating the impact of changes in the legal framework on the evolution of technologies.
The extension of the scope of protection in software products and technologies has blurred the tr... more The extension of the scope of protection in software products and technologies has blurred the traditional dichotomy between idea and expression and re-shaped the borders between patents and copyrights. The article discusses the role of ideas and expressions in development of new products and technologies and their different impact on innovation and technical change. It compares their economic merits and dissimilarities in the general episode of physical goods and in the peculiar case of intangibles through analysing the legal protection of computer programs. IP policies are continuously formed in an adaptive rather in a pro-active mode, attempting to provide new technological developments protection by including them within the scope of traditional regimes. Therefore, a historical outline of the evolution of information technologies drawn beyond the contemporary line of jurisdiction of intellectual property rights assists in identifying the unique and consistent economic characteri...
The debate on software IPRs has not only highlighted fundamental issues regarding the scheme of p... more The debate on software IPRs has not only highlighted fundamental issues regarding the scheme of protection that software enjoys. It has also pointed out major gaps in the repre-sentation of computer programs as economic goods. In this respect, various interpretations of software propose a limited outlook by referring only to particular aspects of computer programs. The paper discusses the nature of software and computational processes and how they should be properly represented as economic commodities and elaborates the similarities and differences between software applications and machines. Further, we discuss whether computer programs should enjoy IPR protection like their physical equivalents and which legal regime would induce the maximal degree of societal benefits and satisfy private and public interests. The paper also elabotes the essential issues of the distinction between ideas and expres-sions and the ways they are treated as intellectual property. It highlights major asp...
Assessing the Performance of Airline Web Sites: The ARTFLY Case (9781605669823): Elad Harison, Al... more Assessing the Performance of Airline Web Sites: The ARTFLY Case (9781605669823): Elad Harison, Albert Boonstra: Book Chapters.
Intellectual property rights (IPR) have been created as economic mechanisms to facilitate ongoing... more Intellectual property rights (IPR) have been created as economic mechanisms to facilitate ongoing innovation by granting inventors a temporary monopoly in return for disclosure of technical knowhow. Since the beginning of 1980s, IPR have come under scrutiny as new technological paradigms appeared with the emergence of knowledge-based industries. Knowledge-based products are intangible, non-excludable and non-rivalrous goods. Consequently, it is difficult for their creators to control their dissemination and use. In particular, many information goods are based on network externalities and on the creation of market standards. At the same time, information technologies are generic in the sense of being useful in many places in the economy. Hence, policy makers often define current IPR regimes in the context of new technologies as both overand under-protective. They are over-protective in the sense that they prevent the dissemination of information which has a very high social value; they are under-protective in the sense that they do not provide strong control over the appropriation of rents from their invention and thus may not provide strong incentives to innovate. During the 1980s, attempts to assess the role of IPR in the process of technological learning have found that even though firms in high-tech sectors do use patents as part of their strategy for intellectual property protection, the reliance of these sectors on patents as an information source for innovation is lower than in traditional industries. Intellectual property rights are based mainly on patents for technical inventions and on copyrights for artistic works. Patents are granted only if inventions display minimal levels of utility, novelty and nonobviousness of technical know-how. By contrast, copyrights protect only final works and their derivatives, but guarantee protection for longer periods, according to the Berne Convention. Licensing is a legal aid that allows the use of patented technology by other firms, in return for royalty fees paid to the inventor. Licensing can be contracted on an exclusive or non-exclusive basis, but in most countries patented knowledge can be exclusively held by its inventors, as legal provisions for compulsory licensing of technologies do not exist. The fair use doctrine aims to prevent formation of perfect monopolies over technological fields and copyrighted artefacts as a result of IPR application. Hence, the use of patented and copyrighted works is permissible in academic research, education and the development of technologies that are complimentary to core technologies. Trade secrecy is meant to prevent inadvertent technology transfer to rival firms and is based on contracts between companies and employees. However, as trade secrets prohibit transfer of knowledge within industries, regulators have attempted to foster disclosure of technical know-how by institutional means of patents, copyrights and sui-generis laws. And indeed, following the provisions formed by IPR regulation, firms have shifted from methods of trade secrecy towards patenting strategies to achieve improved protection of intellectual property, as well as means to acquire competitive advantages in the market by monopolization of technological advances. This paper is drawn from a report commissioned by AWT (Adviesraad voor het Wetenschaps-en Technologiebeleid) published as AWT Background Study No. 21 (June, 2001).
Review of Business Information Systems, Sep 28, 2011
ABSTRACT
Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Apr 8, 2008
Intellectual property rights (IPR) have been created as economic mechanisms to facilitate ongoing... more Intellectual property rights (IPR) have been created as economic mechanisms to facilitate ongoing innovation by granting inventors a temporary monopoly in return for disclosure of technical knowhow. Since the beginning of 1980s, IPR have come under scrutiny as new technological paradigms appeared with the emergence of knowledge-based industries. Knowledge-based products are intangible, non-excludable and non-rivalrous goods. Consequently, it is difficult for their creators to control their dissemination and use. In particular, many information goods are based on network externalities and on the creation of market standards. At the same time, information technologies are generic in the sense of being useful in many places in the economy. Hence, policy makers often define current IPR regimes in the context of new technologies as both overand under-protective. They are over-protective in the sense that they prevent the dissemination of information which has a very high social value; they are under-protective in the sense that they do not provide strong control over the appropriation of rents from their invention and thus may not provide strong incentives to innovate. During the 1980s, attempts to assess the role of IPR in the process of technological learning have found that even though firms in high-tech sectors do use patents as part of their strategy for intellectual property protection, the reliance of these sectors on patents as an information source for innovation is lower than in traditional industries. Intellectual property rights are based mainly on patents for technical inventions and on copyrights for artistic works. Patents are granted only if inventions display minimal levels of utility, novelty and nonobviousness of technical know-how. By contrast, copyrights protect only final works and their derivatives, but guarantee protection for longer periods, according to the Berne Convention. Licensing is a legal aid that allows the use of patented technology by other firms, in return for royalty fees paid to the inventor. Licensing can be contracted on an exclusive or non-exclusive basis, but in most countries patented knowledge can be exclusively held by its inventors, as legal provisions for compulsory licensing of technologies do not exist. The fair use doctrine aims to prevent formation of perfect monopolies over technological fields and copyrighted artefacts as a result of IPR application. Hence, the use of patented and copyrighted works is permissible in academic research, education and the development of technologies that are complimentary to core technologies. Trade secrecy is meant to prevent inadvertent technology transfer to rival firms and is based on contracts between companies and employees. However, as trade secrets prohibit transfer of knowledge within industries, regulators have attempted to foster disclosure of technical know-how by institutional means of patents, copyrights and sui-generis laws. And indeed, following the provisions formed by IPR regulation, firms have shifted from methods of trade secrecy towards patenting strategies to achieve improved protection of intellectual property, as well as means to acquire competitive advantages in the market by monopolization of technological advances. This paper is drawn from a report commissioned by AWT (Adviesraad voor het Wetenschaps-en Technologiebeleid) published as AWT Background Study No. 21 (June, 2001).
Review of Business Information Systems, Aug 8, 2013
ABSTRACT
The impacts of the New Economy are not limited only to recently developed technologies, but invol... more The impacts of the New Economy are not limited only to recently developed technologies, but involve new opportunities for more "traditional" technologies to develop. Knowledge-based industries, and information technologies in particular, hold both promises and threats in many fields. However, as technical know-how is both an input to and an output of knowledge-based industries, IPR regimes may have a large effect on the pace of innovation in knowledge-based technologies. Knowledge is a stimulus for innovation, particularly in knowledge-based technologies where large shares of technical know-how are embedded in final goods. Information goods are described as public goods: if information is disclosed to the public, its originator loses the advantages of propriety, but a new generation of know-how and ideas is stimulated and expanded as a result of its publication. However, knowledge is not legally a public good because unauthorized reproduction can be monitored by IPR. Whether IPR regimes facilitate innovation or reduce its pace has been raised as a pressing issue by the emergence of new technological paradigms and recent economic changes, namely the New Economy. This paper discusses four technologies which are emblematic of the new economy, and which raise important issues regarding IPRs. The technologies presented in this report were selected for analysis on three criteria. First, they are predicted to see rapid evolution during the coming decade and to hold a major share of both economic activity and growth. Second, these technologies are knowledge-based and most have been developed since the mid 1980s. Third, in the context of the technologies discussed here, the current design of IPR regimes seems to conflict with their original aims, namely fostering innovation and technological diffusion by promoting knowledge disclosure and granting monopoly. This report also reviews alternative economic and business models that question the need to protect information goods by IPRs. This paper is drawn from a report commissioned by AWT (Adviesraad voor het Wetenschaps-en Technologiebeleid) published as an AWT Background Study No. 22 (June, 2001).
Journal of Business Case Studies (JBCS), 2011
ABSTRACT
Review of Business Information Systems (RBIS), 2015
The growing trends of immigration and international population movements worldwide emphasize issu... more The growing trends of immigration and international population movements worldwide emphasize issues of the naturalization efforts of immigrants in their new nation, while sustaining their ties to their homeland via the Internet. The paper analyzes the potential of Internet-based regional broadcasting to enhance the attachment of communities of immigrants to their regional identity and culture. A case study conducted at the Dutch Omrop Fryslân radio broadcasting station, and within the communities of its listeners inland and abroad, provides useful insights into the potential role of regional broadcasting as a glocal (i.e. both locally related and globally transmitted) medium of communication in the Internet era. Finally, conclusions on the role of regional public broadcasting stations that transmit via the Internet as a bridgehead to communities of immigrants, and on the glocal nature of their contents, are drawn.
Review of Business Information Systems (RBIS), 2013
ABSTRACT
Review of Business Information Systems (RBIS), 2011
ABSTRACT
Journal of Business Economics Research, Oct 26, 2012
ABSTRACT
Journal of Business & Economics Research (JBER), 2012
ABSTRACT
Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 2004
Major firms have joined the Open Source movement and choose to apply its development methodology ... more Major firms have joined the Open Source movement and choose to apply its development methodology in their projects. Our model examines the links between open-ness and innovation in software platforms by analyzing how disclosure affects the technical quality of software and the profits of myopic and far-sighted firms. Our model analyzes the degree of disclosure, under various pricing strategies of the firm, that should be implemented to obtain maximal profits. Further, we reveal how social welfare of users, in terms of technical quality of the software that they implement, corresponds to profit-maximizing decisions of the firm. As the firm impels towards maximizing its profits in the short and in the long run, higher profits and technical quality of the software may be achieved at the cost of lower degree of openness. Policy makers may tolerate this effect on innovation by providing incentives to Open Source developers and users or by sponsoring free-software consortia.
The large legal and economic literature on intellectual property rights (IPRs) presents contradic... more The large legal and economic literature on intellectual property rights (IPRs) presents contradictory arguments on the efficiency of the legal regime to promote innovation and technical change in information technologies. On one extreme, limited protection of intellectual assets enables rivals to imitate innovations with a little effort and to remove part of the revenues of inventors. A lack of intellectual property regimes would decrease the propensity of firms to invest in R&D and in the long run may slow down the development of technologies and hamper innovation. On the other extreme, over-protective regimes provide strong monopoly rights and dominance over broad shares of the technology and/or for long periods. Patent-holders are able to pre-empt other firms from introducing new products that fall into the scope of valid patents. Therefore, patens enable the introduction of technological advances by other firms only in non-infringing features of patented products and, hence, reduce product differentiation. The dimensions of the legal regime that are studied in this paper are the length and minimal inventive step of patents. We aim at identifying the desirable structure of the regime in which maximal technological progress is achieved. We construct a simulation model of a market of heterogeneous users and firms to analyze the evolution of information technologies. The dynamics of innovation is described as a series of sequential, cumulative advances in the technical qualities of features. The paper identifies the relationships between different degrees of patent protection and market dynamics (in terms of technical quality, diffusion, firms' behaviour and market organization). The minimal inventive step and the duration are the policy parameters whose influence on innovation is assessed by the model. The results of the model suggest that in the current patent regime the legal provisions are to a large extent over-protective and may result in a slowdown in the advance of software technologies. The policy implications of the model go beyond assessing the effects of extending the patent regime to include information technologies in its scope. The analysis provides a wide-ranging instrument that assists policy makers in evaluating the impact of changes in the legal framework on the evolution of technologies.
The extension of the scope of protection in software products and technologies has blurred the tr... more The extension of the scope of protection in software products and technologies has blurred the traditional dichotomy between idea and expression and re-shaped the borders between patents and copyrights. The article discusses the role of ideas and expressions in development of new products and technologies and their different impact on innovation and technical change. It compares their economic merits and dissimilarities in the general episode of physical goods and in the peculiar case of intangibles through analysing the legal protection of computer programs. IP policies are continuously formed in an adaptive rather in a pro-active mode, attempting to provide new technological developments protection by including them within the scope of traditional regimes. Therefore, a historical outline of the evolution of information technologies drawn beyond the contemporary line of jurisdiction of intellectual property rights assists in identifying the unique and consistent economic characteri...
The debate on software IPRs has not only highlighted fundamental issues regarding the scheme of p... more The debate on software IPRs has not only highlighted fundamental issues regarding the scheme of protection that software enjoys. It has also pointed out major gaps in the repre-sentation of computer programs as economic goods. In this respect, various interpretations of software propose a limited outlook by referring only to particular aspects of computer programs. The paper discusses the nature of software and computational processes and how they should be properly represented as economic commodities and elaborates the similarities and differences between software applications and machines. Further, we discuss whether computer programs should enjoy IPR protection like their physical equivalents and which legal regime would induce the maximal degree of societal benefits and satisfy private and public interests. The paper also elabotes the essential issues of the distinction between ideas and expres-sions and the ways they are treated as intellectual property. It highlights major asp...