Ellie Rennie

A Journal is a Club: A New Economic Model for Scholarly Publishing

A new economic model for analysis of scholarly publishing — journal publishing in particular — is proposed that draws on club theory. The standard approach builds on market failure in the private production (by research scholars) of a public good (new scholarly knowledge). In that model publishing is communication, as the dissemination of information. But a club model views publishing differently: namely as group formation, where members form groups in order to confer externalities on each other, subject to congestion. A journal is a self-constituted group, endeavouring to create new knowledge. In this sense ‘a journal is a club’. The knowledge club model of a journal seeks to balance the positive externalities due to a shared resource (readers, citations, referees) against negative externalities due to crowding (decreased prospect of publishing in that journal). A new economic model of a journal as a ‘knowledge club’ is elaborated. We suggest some consequences for the management of journals and financial models that might be developed to support them.

Digital access, choice and agency in remote Sarawak

Abstract Internet use and access to digital devices continues to increase even in remote regions around the world, but users do not participate equally or engage in the same practices online. This leads to inequalities in the outcomes different groups of users can generate as a result of their online practices. Drawing from recent literature on digital divides and using a theoretical framework focused on user choice and agency, we present data from a study of internet and device use in remote villages in Sarawak, a state of Malaysia on the island of Borneo. These villages lack most basic infrastructure such as paved roads or grid electricity, but some have mobile phone and mobile internet access installed under Malaysia’s Universal Service Provision. We discuss qualitative and quantitative data collected between 2015 and 2017 to point to the opportunities as well as obstacles users in remote communities encounter in their engagements with digital devices and the internet. We argue that while remote areas seem to lag behind urban areas in terms of users’ internet skills and practices, people choose to engage with these technologies in ways that are appropriate to their needs and to the local low-bandwidth environment. To enable these communities to tap into additional potential benefits of internet use, however, faster and more reliable access is a prerequisite.

Blockchains and Creative Industries

This short article introduces blockchain technology and outlines its significance for cultural and creative industries.

Blockchains and the crypto city

Drawing on economic transaction cost theory, this paper explores how blockchain and distributed ledger technology could shift the smart city agenda by altering transaction costs with implications for the coordination of infrastructures and resources. Like the smart city the crypto city utilizes data informatics, but can be coordinated through distributed rather than centralized systems. The data infrastructure of the crypto city can enable civil society to run local public goods and services, and facilitate economic and social entrepreneurship.

Community broadcasting and social impact research

ABSTRACT Social impact research fuels normative expectations that policy processes will respond favourably to evidence-based accountability; for example in the case of community broadcasting, policy support will continue to be forthcoming where social benefits are demonstrated. A possible strategic response to public policy failures is for community broadcasters to aspire to get better at doing social impact research by improving capacity and command of research approaches and methods. This article seeks to support this effort with a critical appraisal of social impact research and whether it can succeed in making policy outcomes more predictable. It argues that a balance needs to be struck in setting community broadcasting research priorities, between that which helps to manage upwards accountability to funders and policy makers and that which supports the continuing development of community media forms, practices, and purposes.