The Computer Generation's Willingness to Pay for Originals when Pirates are Present – A CV study

Hakan Holm

No 2000:9, Working Papers from Lund University, Department of Economics

Abstract: A contingent valuation method is applied to study subjects' willingness to pay for originals when illegal copies are freely available. The subjects consisted of 234 Swedish undergraduate students from the "computer generation". Only 2% of the "normal" (and 0% of the "elite") students were willing to pay the retail price for the original. However, the majority was prepared to pay a non-negligible amount for the original. Demand curves and profit maximizing behaviors are analyzed. The price elasticity of piracy indicates that piracy is insensitive to price cuts. The results have implications for the calculation of damages of piracy.

Keywords: Piracy; Contingent Valuation; Damages; Software (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D40 K40 K42 L20 Z10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2000-09-27, Revised 2001-03-16
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-law
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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