The Effects of Online Information on E-Book Pricing Strategies: A Text Analytics Approach

Nowadays, electronic book vendors are increasingly proactive in trying to strategically capitalize on online big data generated by consumers. It will bring great profit for vendors if they can make the most of online reviews to figure out the impact of online data on the selling prices of e-books. In this paper, we complement an emerging body of research to explore how e-book prices could be affected by online information via analyzing the sheer volume of online data from e-book websites, namely, we first employ a domain ontology-based method to select the most discriminative features that may affect e-book prices. Then, the topic modeling method latent Dirichlet allocation and aspect-oriented sentiment analysis methods are applied as a supplement. Using the multiple regression method, we identify the key features that may have effects on the prices of e-books and give the related regression equation. In our results, some factors including paper book prices, paper book pages corresponding to the e-book, and e-book content have significant effects on the price of e-books. The managerial implication is that e-book firms can obtain a reference price for an e-book and may dynamically adjust the price to increase e-book sales according to our data analysis results.

Mr. Hayek and the Classics: A Suggested Interpretation of the Business Cycle Theory in Prices and Production

This paper endeavors to develop a modern theoretical underpinning of Friedrich August von Hayek’s business-cycle theory as published during the Great Depression in his book Prices and Production. According to Hayek, economic cycles are caused by monetary shocks, which distort the relative-price schedule across economic sectors. Possible consequences of these price distortions, which are also called “Cantillon effects,” include malinvestment and an unsustainable production structure, which sooner or later has to be corrected by a recession. It turns out that this type of economic fluctuation can be condensed into a simple two-sector overlapping generations model.

Reduced Value Added Tax (VAT) Rate on Books as a Tool of Indirect Public Funding in the Cultural Sector

The article concentrates on the relationship between reduced value added tax (VAT) rate on books and readership level as a projected goal in cultural policy. To figure out this complex link, the paper explores the contribution of public management and economy to this knowledge to uncover the potential of following assumptions: (1) Reduced VAT rate results in the fall in book prices for consumers; (2) lower book prices stimulate the demand for books; (3) higher consumption of books (book purchase) is reflected in a higher level of readership. Indirect funding is very often worth more (quantitatively) than a direct mode of subsidizing. Indirect instruments, including VAT reduction, are not always the simplest way towards a cultural policy target. Despite great potential as an indirect funding tool, the VAT reduction requires a high-quality ex-ante assessment, and mid-term evaluation to verify the effectiveness and consequences of using VAT as a tax exemption in the cultural policy.

Il commercio degli incunaboli a Padova nel 1480: il Quaderneto di Antonio Moretto

In 1480 publisher and bookseller Antonio Moretto delivered a total of over 900 incunabula to be sold in his shop in Padua. The details of this business transaction survive in a small paper gathering of 8 leaves, known as Quaderneto, in which the titles of the books, the number of copies available, and the sale prices fixed by Moretto himself are listed. It is an important source for our knowledge of Italian Renaissance book-trade and – thanks to a comparison with the Zornale of Francesco de Madiis – provides valuable information about book prices and sales towards the end of the 15th century.

«Heredes de Plauto stampadore deno avere infrascritte robe e dinari»

Two archival sources of the late 15th century allow to outline some considerations and comparisons between the cost of living and book prices in Bologna. The first reports books stored in Bologna by the printer/bookseller Francesco Platone de’ Benedetti during his lifetime; the second, the most important for this study-case, reports the prices and sales of those books made by his heirs.

«Emptus Ferrarie». I prezzi del libro a stampa nella città estense fra Quattro e primi del Cinquecento

During the second half of the 15th century Ferrara, with the Este Court as well as the University and many professionals in law and medicine was an active centre in book circulation, use and - of course - selling. At the end of 15th century, the book market, besides the manuscript production prepared for the Este family and its entourage, was dominated by the cheapest hand-printed editions, also purchased by nobles (such as the Pio princes of Carpi) as well as by professors, doctors, judges and so on. This essay starts from the analytical study of book prices recorded in well known lists never examined before in this respect, then it focuses on purchasing notes in surviving copies, and archival documents. Book prices found in these three kinds of sources will be related not only to different moments in the purchase by the same owner but also to prices paid for everyday life goods in Ferrara at the time of Borso and Ercole I. This will offer a more precise idea of the average book price at the time, and of how much money was spent on books compared to that spent for something else.

Primary Rights and the Inequalities of E-Book Access

The e-book landscape is in a constant state of flux. More recent developments include new acquisition models, advances in platform usability and navigation, more lenient DRM provisions, and improvements to simultaneous user access licenses. However, what has not been addressed recently are the inequalities in e-book access for libraries across the world due to ‘primary rights.’ Territorial rights versus world rights is a licensing issue affecting libraries globally, and yet little is being done to address the inequalities of access. Join our discussion that will examine the ‘unavailable in your country’ message libraries often see alongside e-book purchase options, review documented inflation and deflation in e-book prices over time, and learn about the delayed or limited e-book offerings for global libraries. Explore how we can ensure equal access to electronic books for libraries across the globe. Hear perspectives from libraries inside and outside of the U.S., as well as publisher thoughts on the topic, including the continued drawbacks for library e-book access they believe will continue. Where do these discussions need to occur and who can we educate on the importance of including international access clauses in licenses or publishing agreements? Although this issue may not be widely known by librarians in the U.S., the exclusivity of electronic content based on the geographical location or status of a country is a sharp contrast to many of the inherent beliefs that are foundational to our profession.

Dialect Joke Books and Russian–Yiddish and English–Yiddish Dictionaries

Safran examines the nineteenth-century publishing history of Jewish dialect joke books and Yiddish dictionaries and the generic links between dictionaries and joke books in Russian–Yiddish and English–Yiddish cases. In the 1870s in the Russian Empire and in the 1890s in the United States, Jewish speech style (Jewish Russian and Jewish English) was enregistered; that is, the concepts of ‘Jews’ and ‘Jewish speech’ took on new meanings. This was reflected in both dictionaries and joke books that, at least in some cases, were intended to teach their readers to be humorous as well as knowledgeable. These texts demonstrate the tension between dialect humour that is derogatory and that which embraces its subject; beyond this dichotomy, Safran argues that the confluence of Yiddish lexicography and Jewish dialect humour in the Russian Empire and the United States also reflected the marketing of distinctive spoken language by publishers for general readers. As Safran shows, the commodification of dialect humour and low-status spoken languages was facilitated by a nineteenth-century publishing boom fostered by cheap machine-made paper, fast printing techniques, the rise of literacy, the decline of book prices, the increase in railroad journeying, and the concomitant demand for portable entertainment.