Working paper

The Economics of the Cloud

Gary Biglaiser, Jacques Crémer, and Andrea Mantovani

Abstract

The aim of this report is to present the main facets of the development of cloud services, its economics and the related policy issues. We begin by surveying the sector, its growth and the significant increase in concentration in recent years. We then discuss the tools that economics gives us to study these phenomena before turning to a critical analysis of some of the most prominent policy reports which have been produced on the topic. We finally turn to a more detailed look at the (meagre) economic literature on the industry and of the economic theories which could be used for deeper analysis.

JEL codes

  • K21: Antitrust Law
  • L13: Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
  • L51: Economics of Regulation
  • L86: Information and Internet Services • Computer Software
  • O33: Technological Change: Choices and Consequences • Diffusion Processes

Reference

Gary Biglaiser, Jacques Crémer, and Andrea Mantovani, The Economics of the Cloud, TSE Working Paper, n. 24-1520, March 2024.

See also

Published in

TSE Working Paper, n. 24-1520, March 2024