The Internet As The Economists' Laboratory

from the what-can-we-study-now dept

It used to be that economists had to set up elaborate simulations and tests to try out various economic theories and see if their hypotheses held. However, the internet has created a new kind of laboratory for economists who can simply study the business models of various companies to get a feel for various economic models -- leading to a growing group of "eBayologists and Amazonists" who are using dot coms as their research arena. What's both good and bad about this is that it's not a perfect laboratory, in that certain other factors can't be controlled for -- so it may be difficult to pinpoint if what's being studied for is actually the cause of the results. What's nice, however, is that that very fact should open up new paths and questions for investigation as well.

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