A tool to assess journal price discrimination

College and Research Libraries

Volumn 62, Issue 3, 2001, Pages 269-288

  Meyer, Richard W ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0035534128     PISSN: 00100870     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.5860/crl.62.3.269     Document Type: Article

References (25)

1. This article was excerpted from the author's report, Beating Publisher Price Discrimination (San Antonio, Tex., 2000). For a complete report on the project, address queries to the author.
2. See: Association of Research Libraries. Directory of Electronic Journals, Newsletters, and Academic Discussion Lists (Washington, D.C.: ARL, 1997). For excellent overviews on the development of e-journals, see: Judy Luther, "Full-text Journal Subscriptions: An Evolutionary Process," Against the Grain 9/3 (June 1997): 18, 20, 22, 24; Liza Chan, "Electronic Journals and Academic Libraries," Library Hi Tech 17/1 (Jan. 1999): 10-16.
3. See: Association of Research Libraries. Directory of Electronic Journals, Newsletters, and Academic Discussion Lists (Washington, D.C.: ARL, 1997). For excellent overviews on the development of e-journals, see: Judy Luther, "Full-text Journal Subscriptions: An Evolutionary Process," Against the Grain 9/3 (June 1997): 18, 20, 22, 24; Liza Chan, "Electronic Journals and Academic Libraries," Library Hi Tech 17/1 (Jan. 1999): 10-16.
4. See: Association of Research Libraries. Directory of Electronic Journals, Newsletters, and Academic Discussion Lists (Washington, D.C.: ARL, 1997). For excellent overviews on the development of e-journals, see: Judy Luther, "Full-text Journal Subscriptions: An Evolutionary Process," Against the Grain 9/3 (June 1997): 18, 20, 22, 24; Liza Chan, "Electronic Journals and Academic Libraries," Library Hi Tech 17/1 (Jan. 1999): 10-16.
5. For a thorough overview of the economic framework, see: Richard W. Meyer, "Monopoly Power and Electronic Journals," Library Quarterly 67/4 (Oct. 1997): 325-49.
6. See, especially: H. Craig Peterson, "Variations in Journal Prices: A Statistical Analysis," Serials Librarian 17/1&2 (1989): 1-9; -, "The Economics of Economics Journals: A Statistical Analysis of Pricing Practices by Publishers," College and Research Libraries 53 (Mar. 1992): 176-81; George A. Chressanthis and June D. Chressanthis, "The Determinants of Library Subscription Prices of the Top-ranked Economics Journals: An Econometric Analysis," Journal of Economic Education 25/4 (fall 1994): 367-82.
7. See, especially: H. Craig Peterson, "Variations in Journal Prices: A Statistical Analysis," Serials Librarian 17/1&2 (1989): 1-9; -, "The Economics of Economics Journals: A Statistical Analysis of Pricing Practices by Publishers," College and Research Libraries 53 (Mar. 1992): 176-81; George A. Chressanthis and June D. Chressanthis, "The Determinants of Library Subscription Prices of the Top-ranked Economics Journals: An Econometric Analysis," Journal of Economic Education 25/4 (fall 1994): 367-82.
8. See, especially: H. Craig Peterson, "Variations in Journal Prices: A Statistical Analysis," Serials Librarian 17/1&2 (1989): 1-9; -, "The Economics of Economics Journals: A Statistical Analysis of Pricing Practices by Publishers," College and Research Libraries 53 (Mar. 1992): 176-81; George A. Chressanthis and June D. Chressanthis, "The Determinants of Library Subscription Prices of the Top-ranked Economics Journals: An Econometric Analysis," Journal of Economic Education 25/4 (fall 1994): 367-82.
9. Roger Noll and W. Edward Steinmueller, "An Economic Analysis of Scientific Journal Prices: Preliminary Results," Serials Review 18 (spring/summer 1992): 32-37.
10. George A. Chressanthis and June D. Chressanthis, "Publisher Monopoly Power and Third-degree Price Discrimination of Scholarly Journals," Technical Services Quarterly 11/2 (1993): 13-36.
11. Edward Chamberlin, The Theory of Monopolistic Competition (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Pr., 1935).
12. George A. Chressanthis and June D. Chressanthis, "A General Econometric Model of the Determinants of Library Subscription Prices of Scholarly Journals: The Role of Exchange Rate Risk and Other Factors," Library Quarterly 64/3 (1994): 270-93.
13. This theory is based on the classic work: Abba Lerner, "The Concept of Monopoly and the Measurement of Monopoly Power," Review of Economic Studies (June 1934): 157-75.
14. Two variations in the dependent variable were attempted, including the index of monopoly power based on the work of Lerner. This second version of the Lerner index provided no additional predictive power to the model.
15. Chressanthis and Chressanthis, "Publisher Monopoly Power and Third-degree Price Discrimination of Scholarly Journals."
16. Ulrich's Periodicals Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker, 1996-1998).
17. For a very good summary of trends that relate to this issue as well as general pricing, see: Carol Tenopir and Donald W. King, "Trends in Scientific Scholarly Publishing in the United States," Journal of Scholarly Publishing 28/3 (Apr. 1997): 135-70.
18. Assumptions regarding these two issues were based on an earlier study of scholar demands for journal content in: Charles River Associates, Development of a Model of the Demand for Scientific and Technical Information Services (Boston: Charles River Associates, 1979).
19. Association of American University Presses, annual meeting, Austin, Tex., June 20-12, 1999.
20. See, for example: Michael Barr, "Where Does the Money Go?" Newsletter on Serials Pricing Issues 229 (July 13, 1999): 229.1.
21. For an explanation of price discrimination based on publisher effort to recover revenues lost to photocopying, see: S. J. Liebowitz, "Copying and Indirect Appropriability: Photocopying of Journals," Journal of Political Economy 93/5 (1985): 945-57.
22. Mark J. McCabe, "Academic Journal Pricing and Market Power: A Portfolio Approach." Revised Nov., 2000. Presented at the 2000 AEA meetings in Boston (under review at the AER). Available online at http://www.prism.gatech.edu/%7Emm284/JournPub.PDF.
23. Tenopir and Donald W. King, "Trends in Scientific Scholarly Publishing in the United States," Journal of Scholarly Publishing 28/3 (Apr. 1997): 135-70.
24. Bruce Kingma, personal correspondence with the author.
25. Programs such as the SPARC initiative and discipline servers such as that at Los Alamos probably offer more viable opportunities for new approaches to compete with the commercial establishment.