How Much Do Consumers Value Interoperability? Evidence from the Price of DVD Players

29 Pages Posted: 14 Jul 2017

See all articles by Kris Erickson

Kris Erickson

University of Glasgow

Jesus Rodriguez Perez

University of Glasgow

Swagatam Sinha

University of Glasgow; Center for Law & Economics

Date Written: July 7, 2017

Abstract

Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems provide manufacturers the ability to control the use of their products after sale, imposing legal and technical restrictions on the functionality available to consumers. For example, the DRM system used in consumer DVD prevents players from being interoperable with unauthorised copies and well as authorized content (films) sold in different regions of the globe. Theory on interoperability and the ‘installed base’ identifies local benefits to consumers who either stay with an incompatible standard or adopt an interoperable system, with welfare effects from both cases. We explore the relationship between interoperability features and consumer willingness to pay, using an original dataset on consumer media players. We hypothesize that consumers derive specific benefit from backwards interoperability which enables playback of legacy disc formats the consumer may already own. We further hypothesize that consumers value forwards interoperability between their device and new and emerging technologies.

Using a quasi-experimental setup, we use an Average Treatment Effect (ATE) estimator to evaluate the effect of interoperability features in new and used DVD players obtained from Amazon product listings. Nearest-neighbour matching is used to control for features such as manufacturer, technical specifications and condition of players. Based on analysis of the price and sales performance of 277 DVD players, we find that interoperability has a significant impact on price in the forwards direction. Players capable of playing new file formats such as Xvid command an average price which is $19.06 USD higher than the non-treated group. However, we find limited support for the impact of backwards compatibility on price, either for new or used players. The ability to play DVDs from multiple regions shows a moderately significant effect on price in our sample.

Keywords: DRM, copyright, interoperability, Media devices, Internet of Things, DVD players

Suggested Citation

Erickson, Kristofer and Rodriguez Perez, Jesus and Sinha, Swagatam, How Much Do Consumers Value Interoperability? Evidence from the Price of DVD Players (July 7, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2998767 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2998767

Kristofer Erickson (Contact Author)

University of Glasgow ( email )

9 Professors' Square
Glasgow, G12 8QH
United Kingdom

Jesus Rodriguez Perez

University of Glasgow ( email )

Adam Smith Business School
Glasgow, Scotland G12 8LE
United Kingdom

Swagatam Sinha

University of Glasgow ( email )

Adam Smith Business School
Glasgow, Scotland G12 8LE
United Kingdom

Center for Law & Economics ( email )

Haldeneggsteig 4
Zurich, Zurich 8006
Switzerland

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