Network Externalities in Microcomputer Software: An Econometric Analysis of the Spreadsheet Market

Because of network externalities, the success of a software product may depend in part on stalled base and its conformance to industry standards. This research builds a hedonic model to determine the effects of network externalities, standards, intrinsic features and a time trend on microcomputer spreadsheet software prices. When data for a sample of products during the 1987–1992 time period were analyzed using this model, four main results...