A Campus Technology Choice Model with Incorporated Network Effects: Choosing Between General Use and Campus Systems

摘要

We present a model of technology choice that includes network effects and focuses on a faculty member’s choice between campusspecific and generalpurpose technologies. A theoretical model presents key findings, which are demonstrated mathematically and illustrated with a numerical simulation. As the size of the software usernetworks increases, it is shown that faculty members naturally gravitate toward generalpurpose solutions and it becomes increasingly costly for campuses to support and promote campusspecific systems. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications.