Willmore, Chris (1999) A penny for your thoughts: e-mail and the under-valuation of expert time. Working Paper. University of Warwick, Department of Economics, Coventry.

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Abstract

The cost incurred by the sender of an e-mail does not reflect the costs to the recipient, leading to a larger number of messages being sent than is optimal for the general welfare. As a solution, we suggest a per-message e-mail tax on the sender similar to that proposed by Shiman (1996), with the addition of a recipient-determined 'contact list'. The recipient derives utility from messages sent by those on this list, and they are not to be taxed when sending messages to the recipient. We recommend that the tax revenue be divided between a regulating body and the e-mail recipient's Internet service provider.

Item Type:	Working or Discussion Paper (Working Paper)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Electronic mail messages, Communication -- Economic aspects, Utility theory, Social justice
Series Name:	Warwick economic research papers
Publisher:	University of Warwick, Department of Economics
Place of Publication:	Coventry
Date:	16 December 1999
Number:	No.551
Number of Pages:	13
Status:	Not Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access
References:	Shiman, D.R., 1996, When E-Mail Becomes Junk Mail: The Welfare Implications of the Advancement of Communications Technology, Review of Industrial Organization, vol. 11, pp. 35-48
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/1626

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