Virtual Economies: Design and Analysis

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Vili Lehdonvirta (Research Fellow, Oxford University) Edward Castronova (Professor of Telecommunications and Professor of Cognitive Science, Indiana University)

Virtual Economies

Design and Analysis

Vili Lehdonvirta (Research Fellow, Oxford University), Edward Castronova (Professor of Telecommunications and Professor of Cognitive Science, Indiana University), Sandra Braman (Professor, Texas A&M University) , Paul T. Jaeger (Assistant Professor, University of Maryland)

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English

MIT Press
09 May 2014

Economics; Internet & WWW industries

Series: Information Policy

How the basic concepts of economics-including markets, institutions, and money-can be used to create and analyze economies based on virtual goods.

In the twenty-first-century digital world, virtual goods are sold for real money. Digital game players happily pay for avatars, power-ups, and other game items. But behind every virtual sale, there is a virtual economy, simple or complex. In this book, Vili Lehdonvirta and Edward Castronova introduce the basic concepts of economics into the game developer's and game designer's toolkits. Lehdonvirta and Castronova explain how the fundamentals of economics-markets, institutions, and money-can be used to create or analyze economies based on artificially scarce virtual goods. They focus on virtual economies in digital games, but also touch on serious digital currencies such as Bitcoin as well as virtual economies that emerge in social media around points, likes, and followers. The theoretical emphasis is on elementary microeconomic theory, with some discussion of behavioral economics, macroeconomics, sociology of consumption, and other social science theories relevant to economic behavior.

Topics include the rational choice model of economic decision making; information goods versus virtual goods; supply, demand, and market equilibrium; monopoly power; setting prices; and externalities. The book will enable developers and designers to create and maintain successful virtual economies, introduce social scientists and policy makers to the power of virtual economies, and provide a useful guide to economic fundamentals for students in other disciplines.

How the basic concepts of economics-including markets, institutions, and money-can be used to create and analyze economies based on virtual goods.

In the twenty-first-century digital world, virtual goods are sold for real money. Digital game players happily pay for avatars, power-ups, and other game items. But behind every virtual sale, there is a virtual economy, simple or complex. In this book, Vili Lehdonvirta and Edward Castronova introduce the basic concepts of economics into the game developer's and game designer's toolkits. Lehdonvirta and Castronova explain how the fundamentals of economics-markets, institutions, and money-can be used to create or analyze economies based on artificially scarce virtual goods. They focus on virtual economies in digital games, but also touch on serious digital currencies such as Bitcoin as well as virtual economies that emerge in social media around points, likes, and followers. The theoretical emphasis is on elementary microeconomic theory, with some discussion of behavioral economics, macroeconomics, sociology of consumption, and other social science theories relevant to economic behavior.

Topics include the rational choice model of economic decision making; information goods versus virtual goods; supply, demand, and market equilibrium; monopoly power; setting prices; and externalities. The book will enable developers and designers to create and maintain successful virtual economies, introduce social scientists and policy makers to the power of virtual economies, and provide a useful guide to economic fundamentals for students in other disciplines.

By: Vili Lehdonvirta (Research Fellow Oxford University), Edward Castronova (Professor of Telecommunications and Professor of Cognitive Science, Indiana University)
Series edited by: Sandra Braman (Professor Texas A&M University), Paul T. Jaeger (Assistant Professor, University of Maryland)
Imprint: MIT Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 178mm, Spine: 13mm
ISBN: 9780262535069
ISBN 10: 0262535068
Series: Information Policy
Pages: 306
Publication Date: 09 May 2014
Recommended Age: From 18 years
Audience: Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , Undergraduate , A / AS level
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Vili Lehdonvirta is a Research Fellow at Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford. Edward Castronova is Professor of Communications and Professor of Cognitive Science at Indiana University. He is the author of Synthetic Worlds- The Business and Culture of Online Games and Exodus to the Virtual World- How Online Fun Is Changing Reality.

Reviews for Virtual Economies: Design and Analysis

Many professors and independent readers will choose to supplement this book's information with reading packets and online resources, but Virtual Economies could easily stand alone in any context. Highly recommended. -Curtis Frye, Technology and Society Many professors and independent readers will choose to supplement this book's information with reading packets and online resources, but Virtual Economies could easily stand alone in any context. Highly recommended. -Curtis Frye, Technology and Society * Reviews *