Storming the gatekeepers: Digital disintermediation in the market for books

Joel Waldfogel and Imke Reimers

Information Economics and Policy, 2015, vol. 31, issue C, 47-58

Abstract: Digitization is transforming the market for books. Lower marginal costs have reduced prices by 10–15% in the past four years, and digitization has given creators the ability to circumvent traditional gatekeepers and publish their work directly. The number of self-published works has grown by almost 300% since 2006 and now exceeds the number of traditionally published works. While e-book data are not systematically available, we are able to document that falling prices have increased consumer surplus by $2–3 billion per year. Given the inherent difficulty in predicting the ex post appeal of creative products at the time of investment, a growth in available new products can substantially expand the appeal of available products. Using bestseller lists in conjunction with title-level data on physical sales and our best estimates of e-book sales, we document that many self-published books have substantial ex post appeal to consumers. Works that began their commercial lives through self-publishing began to appear on bestseller lists in 2011 and by 2013 such works accounted for a tenth of both bestseller listings and estimated unit sales. In romantic fiction, self-published works account for almost a third. These changes challenge the role of gatekeepers while benefiting consumers.

Keywords: E-books; Copyright; Digitization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (30)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:iepoli:v:31:y:2015:i:c:p:47-58

DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2015.02.001

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