Joel Waldfogel - Faculty Research in Knowledge@Wharton

Urgent Deadline for Newspapers: Find a New Business Plan before You Vanish

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:53:55 EST

It was a tough year for newspapers. The owner of The Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune declared bankruptcy; The New York Times borrowed against its headquarters and even accepted ads on its front page. Detroit's two dailies announced the end of home delivery on all but three days of the week. According to Wharton faculty, if newspapers can't find a new business model quickly, they may soon be printing final editions.

The Experts vs. the Amateurs: A Tug of War over the Future of Media

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:57:40 EST

A tug of war over the future of media may be brewing between so-called user-generated content -- including amateurs who produce blogs, video and audio for public consumption -- and professional journalists, movie makers and record labels, along with the deep-pocketed companies that back them. The ultimate outcome: a hybrid approach that features entirely new business models, say experts at Wharton.

The Holiday Shopping Outlook: I Saw Mommy Dissing Santa Claus

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:20:43 EST

When Wal-Mart starts its holiday markdowns three weeks before Thanksgiving, you know it will be a tough Christmas season. The Arkansas-based discount chain, a bellwether for U.S. retailing, usually holds off on its "door buster" sales until the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally the year's busiest shopping day. This year, Wal-Mart decided that it couldn't afford to wait. No wonder, say scholars at the Wharton School and retail analysts. A host of economic worries -- plus concerns over toy recalls -- has this year shaping up to be a lump-of-coal shopping experience. Here is what retailers -- and shoppers -- can expect.

Rewriting Econ 101: Teaching the Shortcomings of Market Allocation

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 14:47:58 EST

Forget what you learned about markets in your introductory economics class. In a new book titled, The Tyranny of the Market: Why You Can't Always Get What You Want, Wharton professor Joel Waldfogel challenges the conventional thinking that markets will provide adequately if left to their own devices. His book makes the case that while markets do a good job of offering products that a majority of people desire, they can fall short in meeting the needs of consumers with less prevalent preferences. Potentially left by the wayside are African Americans, Hispanics, people with unusual medical conditions and residents of remote areas, among others.

In the Growing Market for Online Video, TV Networks Want a Piece of the Action

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 14:47:58 EST

CBS launches an online editing studio called EyeLab so fans can edit short versions of video programming. ABC distributes full versions of its television shows on its own site and via AOL for free. NBC Universal teams up with Amazon.com to distribute its shows. The frenetic wheeling and dealing for digital distribution of TV programs -- just as the fall season is gearing up -- reflects the television networks' attempts to find Internet business models that can be profitable and still protect both their intellectual property and brand identity.

Web vs. Print: Online Successes at One Newspaper Raise More Questions Than They Answer

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 15:13:23 EST

The newsroom at washingtonpost.com, the website of The Washington Post, is not so different from that of a print newspaper, with one notable exception: At a time when newsrooms across the country have empty desks from recent buyouts and layoffs, staff numbers here are expanding to fill every available nook and cranny. Washingtonpost.com is a success story in an industry where the divide between vibrant online ventures and shrinking print products is increasingly sharp. But even the Post has no idea how long that success will last, how much money it can make from the venture, or who exactly its competition is.

Coming Attraction: YouTube's Business Model

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 14:39:32 EST

A deal between YouTube and Warner Music Group to share music videos and revenue could usher in an era where the interests of content copyright holders and freebie-loving consumers align. Or it could wind up being just another stab at a business model for YouTube. The outcome will be determined by how the revenue between copyright holders and distributors like YouTube gets shared, say experts at Wharton.

From Confrontation to Experimentation: The Music Industry Is Playing a New Tune

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:06:19 EST

EMI Music backs a label that turns the traditional economics of the recording industry on its head. Vivendi's Universal Music Group creates multiple pricing schemes for CDs. Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Yahoo decide to sell a single without digital rights restrictions. These moves typify a flurry of experimentation by major record labels in recent weeks, and stand in stark contrast to earlier behavior by an industry that six years ago was best known for launching anti-piracy lawsuits against Napster -- a network that originally swapped music files for free -- and individual users. Today, according to experts at Wharton, the recording industry is actively trying to create new business models as it navigates the emerging Internet-enabled landscape.

All the News That's Fit to ... Aggregate, Download, Blog: Are Newspapers Yesterday's News?

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 15:54:43 EST

The recent sale of Knight Ridder, the country's second-largest newspaper chain, to McClatchy follows one of the most difficult years the industry has had -- declining circulation, job losses and falling stock prices. Newspapers, it would seem, have two big strikes against them: They are in a mature industry and they are a textbook example (stockbrokers are another) of an intermediary between sources of information and customers -- a role that is being increasingly challenged by the Internet. To remain competitive in the coming years, say Wharton faculty and others, daily newspapers will have to strengthen their efforts to attract younger readers, make more imaginative use of the Internet, and develop stories, mostly local in nature, that better meet the needs of time-pressed subscribers.

Can Wikipedia Survive Its Own Success?

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 15:13:16 EST

It's not easy being Wikipedia, a free web encyclopedia created and edited by anonymous contributors. Just ask founder Jimmy Wales, who has seen his creation come under fire in just a few short months as the site fends off vandalism and charges of inaccurate entries. But Wikipedia, founded in 2001 as a non-profit organization, has become a big enough presence that it raises a number of interesting questions, including: Just how accurate is free content, given recent events at Wikipedia? Does the aggregate 'wisdom of the crowd' trump the expertise of knowledgeable individuals? Does Wikipedia's policing mechanism work? And does the controversy over Wikipedia merely reflect further tension between old and new media? Wharton experts, along with Wales, offer some answers.

The Wi-Fi Debate: Should Cities Be in the Business of Broadband?

Wed, 01 Jun 2005 17:22:46 EST

The city of Philadelphia's grand experiment to blanket its 135 square miles with wireless high-speed Internet access is being closely watched by municipalities across the U.S. that are pursuing similar initiatives. While Philadelphia's project, which edged closer to reality with an announcement on April 7, is more than a year away from completion, it has sparked an intense debate over such questions as: Are broadband services better handled by the public or private sector? Can a wireless broadband network, commonly known as Wi-Fi, be used to help more low-income people gain online access? Should Internet access be viewed as city infrastructure, like telephone poles or city streets?

The Efficiency of Gift Giving: Is It Really Better to Give than to Receive?

Wed, 15 Dec 2004 15:34:52 EST

Now that the holiday season is in full throttle - and panic has set in among those who fret over finding the right gifts for family members, friends and perhaps even co-workers - it's worth considering a not particularly festive question: Just how efficient is gift giving? And what do the recipients of consumer purchases actually think about the gifts they get? Joel Waldfogel, professor of business and public policy at Wharton, sheds some light on this question in a new paper titled, "Does Consumer Irrationality Trump Consumer Sovereignty?"

The Beat Goes On: This Recording Industry Bill Would Trap More than Just Illegal File-sharers

Wed, 03 Nov 2004 15:18:15 EST

In its latest assault on piracy, the recording industry is pushing legislation that would extend liability for illegal file-sharing beyond individuals and renegade software-makers to firms with a less direct role in downloading, such as Internet service providers (ISPs) and computer hardware manufacturers. Wharton faculty and technology companies, however, argue that such a move would stifle innovation and investment in technology. The proposed legislation, which probably won't be acted on by this year's Congress but is likely to reappear next year, "goes against a lot of court decisions and common sense," says one Wharton professor.

New FCC Rules on Media Ownership: Static from All Sides

Wed, 04 Jun 2003 00:00:00 EST

When Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell described his agency�s partial deregulation of media outlet ownership restrictions June 2 as �modest, albeit very significant changes,� few seemed to share his sentiment. The Newspaper Association of America saluted the FCC for loosening its �regulatory shackles.� Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, however, suggested that deregulation �will undermine the basic tenets of democracy.� Will deregulation be great for the media business, terrible for democracy, or does it represent merely a modest � but significant � change?