Abstract It has been shown that the presence of demand-side externalities can induce the market to benefit the largest firms in terms of market share, usually named as network effect by the theoretical literature. On the one hand, macro-level approach in the empirical literature of network effects commonly use the assumption that a network's overall size matters more to consumers' decisions (global network effects). On the other hand, micro-level studies have suggested that social networks are more relevant to consumers' choices than the overall network size (local network effects). Based on microdata from five Latin American countries, we compare the choice of a particular operator over choosing the largest operator by individual consumers. Our research shows that country-level network size is one among a set factors that determine consumers' choices of mobile operators, once individual and operators' country presence heterogeneity are considered. We find that consumers' local network decisions are important for the choice of operator in the majority of cases considered, and that this result is conditional on the chosen operator's market share. Furthermore, network characteristics and consumer preferences, such as coverage, tariffs, and network importance also affect the choice of mobile network for the Latin American context.

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移动电信市场的网络效应：五个拉美国家消费者偏好的比较分析

摘要 已经表明，需求侧外部性的存在可以促使市场在市场份额方面使最大的公司受益，理论文献通常将其称为网络效应。一方面，网络效应实证文献中的宏观层面方法通常使用这样的假设，即网络的整体规模对消费者的决策更重要（全球网络效应）。另一方面，微观层面的研究表明，与整体网络规模（本地网络效应）相比，社交网络与消费者的选择更相关。根据来自五个拉丁美洲国家的微观数据，我们比较了个人消费者选择特定运营商与选择最大运营商的情况。我们的研究表明，一旦考虑到个人和运营商的国家存在异质性，国家级网络规模是决定消费者选择移动运营商的一系列因素之一。我们发现，在所考虑的大多数情况下，消费者的本地网络决策对于运营商的选择很重要，而且这一结果取决于所选运营商的市场份额。此外，网络特征和消费者偏好，例如覆盖范围、资费和网络重要性，也会影响拉丁美洲环境下移动网络的选择。在所考虑的大多数情况下，本地网络决策对于运营商的选择很重要，并且该结果取决于所选运营商的市场份额。此外，网络特征和消费者偏好，例如覆盖范围、资费和网络重要性，也会影响拉丁美洲环境下移动网络的选择。在所考虑的大多数情况下，本地网络决策对于运营商的选择很重要，并且该结果取决于所选运营商的市场份额。此外，网络特性和消费者偏好，例如覆盖范围、资费和网络重要性，也会影响拉丁美洲环境下移动网络的选择。