Hoofnagle, Chris Jay; Whittington, Jan. (2014). Free: Accounting for the Costs of the Internet’s Most Popular Price. UCLA Law Review, 61(3), 606 – 670.
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Abstract
Offers of free services abound on the Internet. But the focus on the price rather than on the cost of free services has led consumers into a position of vulnerability. For example, even though internet users typically exchange personal information for the opportunity to use these purportedly free services, one court has found that users of free services are not consumers for purposes of California consumer protection law. This holding reflects the common misconception that the costs of free online transactions are negligible when in fact true costs may be quite significant. To elucidate the true costs of these allegedly free services, we apply a transaction cost economics (TCE) approach. Unlike orthodox economic theory, TCE provides a framework for analyzing exchanges in which the price of the product seems to be zero. Under a TCE analysis, we argue that information-intensive companies misuse the term free to promote products and services that involve numerous nonpecuniary costs. In so doing, firms generate contractual hazards for consumers, ignore consumer preferences for privacy, and mislead consumers by creating the impression that a given transaction will be free. While psychological research and behavioral economics may support an outright ban of free offers because of their biasing effects, TCE suggests reforming governance structures to place the business risks associated with free transactions more firmly in the hands of businesses. We suggest alterations to governance structures such as the Federal Trade Commission's Guide Concerning Use of the Word Free (FTC Guide) to curb the incentives of firms to raise transaction costs for consumers. The FTC Guide provides support for two of the consumer protection measures we propose: first, a requirement that free service providers clearly disclose that such providers seek users' personal information in exchange for those services, and, second, the establishment of a regular price before providers can market a service as free. We further argue that the recognition of users of free services as consumers for purposes of consumer protection law would better align incentives and ensure users access to legal redress against some of the most popular services on the Internet. Lastly, we suggest the adoption of alternative governance structures designed to reduce the cost of transacting by curbing the collection of personal information from consumers of free services and by enhancing the rights of consumers to govern the dispersal of personal information from free online services to third parties.
Keywords
Free Internet Service Providers; Internet Usage Monitoring; Transaction Cost Theory Of The Firm; Internet Privacy -- Law & Legislation; Law; United States. Federal Trade Commission; Vertical Integration; Privacy
Liu, Qian; Chen, Peng; Sun, Feiyang. (2018). Parking Policies in China’s Metropolises: Rationales, Consequences, and Implications. Urban Policy & Research, 36(2), 186 – 200.
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Abstract
Metropolises in China, a rapidly motorizing nation, are confronted with the challenge of managing parking pressures. Given the generally increased affordability of cars, most local authorities are making efforts to provide more parking spaces to accommodate additional cars. Although the worldwide paradigm of managing parking is shifting from a supply-focused approach to a restraint mind-set, China has been slow to follow this trend. To untangle the factors that contribute to delays implementing desirable parking policy reforms, this paper examines the development of parking policies in China. This paper characterizes the challenge of parking in Chinese cities as a spatio-temporal mismatch. In the context of rapid motorization, local authorities are subject to political pressure to cater to the increased parking demand by increasing the minimum parking requirements. However, this approach fails to mitigate parking shortages and results in unintended consequences, including relatively high parking density in central and transit-rich areas and imbalanced parking across neighbourhoods. This paper suggests four strategies, including market-based pricing, geographically differentiated supply regulations, and district-based parking management (Parking management is referred to as various policies and programs that result in more efficient use of parking resources). These strategies represent policy-reform targets to establish more efficient parking systems in rapidly motorizing urban settings worldwide.
Keywords
Parking Facilities; Urbanization; Parking Lots; China; Minimum Parking Requirements; Motorization; Parking Policies; Parking Supply; Spatio-temporal Mismatch; Requirements; Minimum; Ownership; Future; Transportation; Cities; Pressure; Neighborhoods; Affordability; Local Authorities; Shortages; Regulation; Developmental Delays; Density; Parking; Reforms
Aziz, Ahmed M. Abdel. (2021). The Practice of Roadway Safety Management in Public-Private Partnerships. Journal Of Construction Engineering And Management, 147(12).
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Abstract
As a matter of course, the private party in public-private partnerships (PPPs) assumes the responsibility for roadway safety management (RSM). However, because most PPPs are performance-based, public highway agencies must articulate the specifications and methods they develop to enforce RSM practices. Despite the increased interest in PPPs in recent decades, little has been published on developing and propagating the RSM practices used with this delivery system. To fill this research gap and explore RSM practices in PPPs, this work took a synthesis research approach, using content analysis to critically review and analyze 16 PPP agreements in seven states and provinces leading in PPP contracting in North America. The study discovered several methods and organized them under five mechanisms: Mechanism 1, integrating roadway safety into project performance specifications and initiating new tools such as safety compliance orders; Mechanism 2, imposing nonconformance monetary deductions based on point and classification systems; Mechanism 3, regulating safety payments on the basis of crash statistics; Mechanism 4, promoting safety initiative programs; and Mechanism 5, enforcing administrative countermeasures such as work suspension and default/termination triggers for persistent developer noncompliance. Mechanisms 1 and 5 were the default mechanisms in all toll- and availability-based projects, whereas Mechanism 2 was common in availability-only projects. The research reviewed the RSM packages in the PPP agreements, elucidating the particulars of the RSM mechanisms, highlighting RSM design considerations, presenting implementation guidelines, and articulating research needs. The research results were validated against PPP highways in five other states and provinces. This synthesis research provides highway agencies with an extensive practice review to support RSM package design for future PPP projects.
Keywords
Qualitative Research; Incentives; Public-private Partnerships (ppps); Performance Specifications; Roadway Safety; Payment Mechanisms; Availability Payment; Highways
In Making Healthy Places, Second Edition: Designing and Building for Well-Being, Equity, and Sustainability, planning and public health experts, Andy L. Dannenberg, Affiliate Professor of Urban Design & Planning, along with co-authors Nisha D. Botchwey and Howard Frumkin bring together scholars and practitioners from across the globe in fields ranging from public health, planning, and urban design, to sustainability, social work, and public policy. This updated and expanded edition explains how to design and build places that are beneficial to the…
In 2021 the College of Built Environments launched the CBE Inspire Fund, designed to support CBE research activities for which a relatively small amount of support can be transformative. The second year of awards have just been announced, supporting five projects across 4 departments within the college as they address topics such as food sovereignty, anti-displacement, affordable housing, and health & wellbeing. This year’s awardees include: Defining the New Diaspora: Where Seattle’s Black Church Congregants Are Moving and Why Rachel…
Though Transit Equity Day is just one day, the issue of equity on Seattle’s public transit is an ongoing and important conversation to Seattle and King County residents. Neighborhoods across the county have unequal access to transit lines; bus stops are often located in inconvenient or dangerous places due to oncoming traffic and lack of sidewalks; and bus schedules are irregular or sparse, with long wait times. These are just a few of the challenges folks might experience before getting…
I am interested in sustainable buildings with an emphasis on energy efficiency, health requirements, indoor air quality, incentives, and green financing. This interest is shaped by the emerging trend towards healthy buildings that improve the occupants’ productivity and health. My research agenda focuses on reconceptualizing sustainable building’s performance to meet the building’s health requirements and energy-efficiency and promote this in policy decision-making settings, including improving the risk responsiveness of codes and standards for building practices.
Congratulations to Assistant Professor of Real Estate and CSDE Affiliate Arthur Acolin for being awarded a $10,000 Tier 2 seed grant for his project, “Accessory Dwelling Units as Potential Source of Affordable Housing Across Generations”. This grant is part of CSDE’s quarterly call for seed grant applications and is intended to help faculty initiate new research endeavors that have high relevance to population science and a strong chance of building towards extramural funding. Acolin will be conducting a joint project…
The Cyber-BE Lab integrates the latest in academic research on policy, communication, and organization with industry expertise on IoT security, risk mitigation and building operations. Cyber-BE offers a holistic understanding of IoT in the built environment. We support the organizational, communication, and policy innovations that will help minimize IoT risk through:
- Advancing social scientific research to better understand and apply smart technology in the built environment
- Delivering usable guidance and tools to address the policy, organizational, and communication challenges that industry practitioners face
- Building a community of practice of IoT security practitioners and researchers
The lab leads include Laura Osburn, Senior Research Scientist at the Department of Construction Management, Jessica Beyer, Lecturer and Research Scientist at the Jackson School of International Studies, and Chuck Benson, Director of IoT Risk Mitigation Strategy at the University of Washington.
The Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans) announced in January 2021 the project proposals selected for funding. Qing Shen, Professor of Urban Design and Planning and Chair of the Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Urban Design and Planning is among those selected for project funding. Shen is working alongside Co-Principal Investigator Catherine (Casey) Gifford–Innovative Mobility Senior Planner–on the applied research project titled “Supplementing fixed-route transit with dynamic shared mobility services: a marginal cost comparison approach”. The project goal is to address a…