Abstract Net neutrality or “Open Internet” rulemaking has been ongoing for more than a decade. Some 50 nations have adopted formal rules including the US (then repealed), the European Union, India, and many countries in Latin America. Among other arguments, it is asserted that net neutrality rules are necessary for application innovation. While the focus for policymakers has largely been to make rules, there is less attention on how to measure the impact of such rules and how well they achieve their innovation goals. The article summaries a specific research investigation to what degree the introduction of rules in a given country stimulates innovation in that country’s mobile app ecosystem. The focus in on mobile networks because it allowed the most consistent data across countries. The study covered 53 countries, their net neutrality policies (or lack thereof), and the results to the respective mobile application ecosystems of the countries adopting rules between the period of 2010–2016. This investigation tests the proposition that countries which adopt net neutrality rules should experience an increase in mobile app development innovation within their national economy. To test this, a statistical methodology was developed based upon measuring the number of locally developed mobile apps in the country for relevant periods before and after rules are imposed and the corresponding app downloads, usage, and revenue. Measurement was conducted with two independent toolsets and adjusted for the sophistication and penetration of advanced mobile networks in the country. To make more meaningful comparisons and avoid inevitable heterogeneity across the countries, the investigation focuses on two similar countries with different rules, Denmark with soft rules (self-regulation) and Netherlands with hard rules (legislation). The study reviewed the leading theories of innovation as well as the foundational papers in net neutrality to explain the observed discrepancies. The research finds significant statistical support for “soft” net neutrality measures adopted on a voluntary basis. Hard rules adopted through legislation and regulation were not associated with greater mobile app development for the given country. Denmark increased in local mobile app development while Netherlands decreased. Additionally, the explosion of mobile apps from countries with no net neutrality rules and the general dearth of mobile apps from countries which have had hard rules for years runs counter to expected results. This suggests that policymakers revisit their assumptions and expectations for net neutrality policy.

中文翻译：

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丹麦和荷兰的网络中立性和移动应用创新2010–2016

摘要网络中立性或“开放Internet”规则制定已经进行了十多年。大约有50个国家采用了正式规则，其中包括美国（当时已废除），欧盟，印度以及拉丁美洲的许多国家。除其他论点外，有人断言网络中立性规则对于应用程序创新是必要的。尽管政策制定者的重点主要是制定规则，但对于如何衡量此类规则的影响以及它们如何实现创新目标的关注却很少。本文总结了一项特定的研究调查，该调查研究了给定国家/地区引入规则在多大程度上刺激了该国移动应用生态系统的创新。将重点放在移动网络上，因为它允许跨国家/地区提供最一致的数据。这项研究涵盖了53个国家，他们的净中立政策（或缺乏中立政策），以及在2010-2016年期间采用规则的国家各自的移动应用生态系统的结果。这项调查检验了采用净中性规则的国家应该在其国民经济范围内增加移动应用程序开发创新的命题。为了对此进行测试，开发了一种统计方法，该方法基于在实施规则之前和之后测量该国在相关时期内本地开发的移动应用程序的数量以及相应的应用程序下载，使用和收入。使用两个独立的工具集进行了测量，并针对该国家先进的移动网络的复杂性和渗透性进行了调整。为了进行更有意义的比较，并避免各国之间不可避免的异质性，该调查的对象是两个具有不同规则的相似国家，丹麦具有软规则（自我监管），荷兰具有硬规则（立法）。该研究回顾了创新的主要理论以及网络中立性的基础论文，以解释观察到的差异。该研究发现对自愿采取的“软”净中性措施具有重要的统计支持。立法和法规通过的硬性规定与给定国家/地区更大的移动应用程序开发没有关系。丹麦增加了本地移动应用程序的开发，而荷兰减少了。此外，没有网络中立性规则的国家的移动应用程序的爆炸式增长，以及多年来实行严格规则的国家/地区普遍缺乏移动应用程序，这与预期结果背道而驰。