Working papers, Submitted and R&R:
Aubouin, M. & Ragot, L. (2024). The macroeconomics of free digital services, EconomiX Working Paper
Digital technology has enabled the rise of free digital services financed by advertising. These services are increasingly popular and enable a few digital firms to generate significant revenue, although GDP does not directly consider them. This paper presents a growth model with digital services providers collecting household data in exchange for their services, which are used to sell targeted advertising to traditional firms. It enables us to study the impacts of this sector on key macroeconomic aggregates and welfare within the American context. Our results highlight that enhanced activity among large providers (new entry, greater efficiency in producing service quality or advertising) positively impacts the economy. Data collection enables small providers to compete with large ones, which benefit from greater user attention. Household preferences, such as sensitivity to privacy, also play a role, potentially hindering the free digital services sector’s economic impact.
Aubouin, M., Melindi-Ghidi, P. & Nicolaï, J-P. Regulating the environmental footprint of data consumption: Should we use taxes or quotas? (Forthcoming)
Digital production and consumption represent 3,2% of the French greenhouse gas emissions. This paper seeks to analyze the distributional effects and efficiency of a tax on mobile internet to limit the environmental impact of digital. To this aim, we theoretically study the reaction of a monopolist selling mobile data subscriptions to two types of consumers. We demonstrate that in a market with price discrimination, the monopolist responds to the tax by lowering both the price and the data allowance of these subscriptions. Then, we empirically study the French households’ reaction to the tax implementation according to the market structure. We find that, unlike a tax on goods sold at unit price, a tax on mobile data subscriptions is not necessarily regressive.
Work in progress
Aubouin, M., Ing, J. & Nicolaï, J-P. Environmental and economic trade-offs in datacenter location under jurisdictional competition.
Aubouin, M. & Ragot L. Same Skills, Unequal Returns: Digital Literacy and Employment Among Immigrant Men and Women in France.
Aubouin, M., Mollier, C. & Oriola, H. Twitch Plays Politics: Gender, Audience and Political Expression.