A Comment on the Oberholzer-Gee and Strumpf Paper on File-Sharing

13 Pages Posted: 27 Sep 2007

See all articles by Stan J. Liebowitz

Stan J. Liebowitz

University of Texas at Dallas - School of Management - Department of Finance & Managerial Economics

Date Written: September 2007

Abstract

Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Koleman Strumpf, in their recent paper on file-sharing, provide numerous additional tests and facts to support their overall conclusion that file-sharing has a benign impact on record sales. In this note I attempt to replicate their additional tests and check their facts. My replication finds results that contradict the claims of Oberholzer-Gee/Strumpf for each of the additional tests. Further, many facts do not pass a careful fact-check. I then propose some methodological problems with the main analysis to explain why their main analysis gives results at odds with these other tests, industry facts, and the rest of the literature. There is a longer version of this paper available on SSRN which provides more detailed analysis, data and discussion.

Keywords: downloads, mp3, file sharing, internet, copying

JEL Classification: K0, L0, L5, L8

Suggested Citation

Liebowitz, Stan J., A Comment on the Oberholzer-Gee and Strumpf Paper on File-Sharing (September 2007). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1017418 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1017418

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