IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/jns/jbstat/v232y2012i4p394-413.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Determinants of Digital Piracy: A Re-examination of Results

Author

Listed:
  • Mandel Philipp

    (Institute for Empirical Research in Economics, University of Leipzig, Grimmaische Str. 12, 04109 Leipzig, Germany)

  • Süssmuth Bernd

    (Institute for Empirical Research in Economics, University of Leipzig, Grimmaische Str. 12, 04109 Leipzig, Germany, and CESifo Munich)

Abstract

This paper empirically investigates determinants of digital piracy in Germany for several types of digitized products. To this end we rely on a survey comprising behavior and attitudes at the individual level. The sample matches some demographic characteristics of the German population with high-speed internet access with regard to gender and age composition. It also maps the share of foreign nationals in Germany. Self-selection in the drawing of our sample is assessed by a control experiment. In contrast to existing studies, we sharply discriminate between frequency and extent of pirating digital media. We find no significant gender difference in the propensity to pirate. However, male individuals are prone to pirate at a significantly larger scale.We attribute this finding to male individuals acting more frequently as hubs in the social prestige enhancing distribution of pirated media. It is particularly important in the light of the recent development of the distribution process from peer-to-peer online networks to offline forms of file swapping. Our findings are confirmed by recent piracy related crime statistics of the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation (Bundeskriminalamt).

Suggested Citation

  • Mandel Philipp & Süssmuth Bernd, 2012. "Determinants of Digital Piracy: A Re-examination of Results," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 232(4), pages 394-413, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:jns:jbstat:v:232:y:2012:i:4:p:394-413
    DOI: 10.1515/jbnst-2012-0402
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/jbnst-2012-0402
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/jbnst-2012-0402?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rob, Rafael & Waldfogel, Joel, 2006. "Piracy on the High C's: Music Downloading, Sales Displacement, and Social Welfare in a Sample of College Students," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 49(1), pages 29-62, April.
    2. Sylvain Dejean, 2009. "What Can We Learn from Empirical Studies About Piracy?," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 55(2), pages 326-352, June.
    3. Bengtsson, Claes & Persson, Mats & Willenhag, Peter, 2005. "Gender and overconfidence," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(2), pages 199-203, February.
    4. Tim Goles & Bandula Jayatilaka & Beena George & Linda Parsons & Valrie Chambers & David Taylor & Rebecca Brune, 2008. "Softlifting: Exploring Determinants of Attitude," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 77(4), pages 481-499, February.
    5. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    6. Eric P. Chiang & Djeto Assane, 2009. "Estimating The Willingness To Pay For Digital Music," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 27(4), pages 512-522, October.
    7. Martin Peitz & Patrick Waelbroeck, 2005. "An Economist's Guide to Digital Music," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 51(2-3), pages 359-428.
    8. Banerjee, Dyuti S., 2003. "Software piracy: a strategic analysis and policy instruments," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 97-127, January.
    9. Peitz, Martin & Waelbroeck, Patrick, 2006. "Piracy of digital products: A critical review of the theoretical literature," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 449-476, November.
    10. repec:bla:jindec:v:48:y:2000:i:4:p:473-88 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. David Bounies & Marc Bourreau & Patrick Waelbroeck, 2007. "Pirates or Explorers ?Analysis of Music Consumption in French Graduate Schools," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 50(2), pages 167-192.
    12. Hal R. Varian, 2000. "Buying, Sharing and Renting Information Goods," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 473-488, December.
    13. Antonio Andrés, 2006. "The relationship between copyright software protection and piracy: Evidence from europe," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 29-51, January.
    14. Arthur Vany & W. Walls, 2007. "Estimating the Effects of Movie Piracy on Box-office Revenue," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 30(4), pages 291-301, June.
    15. Brad M. Barber & Terrance Odean, 2001. "Boys will be Boys: Gender, Overconfidence, and Common Stock Investment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(1), pages 261-292.
    16. Holm Håkan J., 2003. "Can economic theory explain piracy behavior?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 3(1), pages 1-18, April.
    17. Nicolas Curien & Francois Moreau, 2009. "The Music Industry in the Digital Era: Toward New Contracts," Journal of Media Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 102-113.
    18. Martin Peitz & Patrick Waelbroeck, 2003. "Piracy of Digital Products: A Critical Review of the Economics Literature," CESifo Working Paper Series 1071, CESifo.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Aguiar, Luis & Martens, Bertin, 2016. "Digital music consumption on the Internet: Evidence from clickstream data," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 27-43.
    2. Steven James Watson & Daniel John Zizzo & Piers Fleming, 2015. "Determinants of Unlawful File Sharing: A Scoping Review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-23, June.
    3. Tomczyk, Łukasz, 2019. "The Practice of Downloading copyrighted files among adolescents in Poland: Correlations between piracy and other risky and protective behaviours online and offline," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Joel Waldfogel, 2012. "Music Piracy and Its Effects on Demand, Supply, and Welfare," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(1), pages 91-110.
    2. Wojciech Hardy & Michal Krawczyk & Joanna Tyrowicz, 2015. "Friends or foes? A meta-analysis of the link between "online piracy" and sales of cultural goods," Working Papers 2015-23, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    3. Luis Aguiar & Jörg Claussen & Christian Peukert, 2018. "Catch Me If You Can: Effectiveness and Consequences of Online Copyright Enforcement," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(3), pages 656-678, September.
    4. Godefroy Nguyen & Sylvain Dejean & François Moreau, 2014. "On the complementarity between online and offline music consumption: the case of free streaming," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 38(4), pages 315-330, November.
    5. Chang, Yang-Ming & Walter, Jason, 2015. "Digital piracy: Price-quality competition between legal firms and P2P network hosts," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 22-32.
    6. Oz Shy, 2011. "A Short Survey of Network Economics," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 38(2), pages 119-149, March.
    7. David Waterman & Sung Ji & Laura Rochet, 2007. "Enforcement and Control of Piracy, Copying, and Sharing in the Movie Industry," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 30(4), pages 255-289, June.
    8. Francisco Martínez-Sánchez, 2007. "Why Does The Pirate Decide To Be The Leader In Prices?," Working Papers. Serie AD 2007-01, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    9. Romeu, Andrés & Martinez-Sanchez, Francisco, 2015. "Technological Development and Software Piracy," UMUFAE Economics Working Papers 43702, DIGITUM. Universidad de Murcia.
    10. Martínez-Sánchez, Francisco & Romeu, Andrés, 2018. "Development and software piracy," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 12, pages 1-21.
    11. Brett Danaher & Michael D. Smith & Rahul Telang, 2014. "Piracy and Copyright Enforcement Mechanisms," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(1), pages 25-61.
    12. J. McKenzie & W. D. Walls, "undated". "File Sharing and Film Revenues: An Empirical Analysis," Working Papers 2013-01, Department of Economics, University of Calgary.
    13. Alcalá, Francisco & González-Maestre, Miguel, 2010. "Copying, superstars, and artistic creation," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 365-378, December.
    14. Asongu Simplice & Antonio R. Andrés, 2012. "Fighting software piracy: which governance tools matter in Africa?," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 12/017, African Governance and Development Institute..
    15. Dongook Choi & Yeonbae Kim, 2010. "Effects of Piracy and Digital Rights Management on the Online Music Market in Korea," TEMEP Discussion Papers 201072, Seoul National University; Technology Management, Economics, and Policy Program (TEMEP), revised Dec 2010.
    16. Kataria, Mitesh, 2017. "How long do you think it will take? Field Evidence on Gender Differences in Time Optimism," Working Papers in Economics 694, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    17. Tunay I. Tunca & Qiong Wu, 2013. "Fighting Fire with Fire: Commercial Piracy and the Role of File Sharing on Copyright Protection Policy for Digital Goods," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 436-453, June.
    18. Lee, Jonathan F., 2018. "Purchase, pirate, publicize: Private-network music sharing and market album sales," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 35-55.
    19. Yuanzhu Lu & Sougata Poddar, 2012. "Does Reliable Pirated Product Lead to More Piracy?," Working Papers 2012-05, Auckland University of Technology, Department of Economics.
    20. Javier López-Cuñat & Francisco Martínez-Sánchez, 2015. "Anti-piracy policy and quality differential in markets for information goods," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 375-401, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:jns:jbstat:v:232:y:2012:i:4:p:394-413. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyter.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.