Worlds of E-Commerce Economic, Geographical and Social Dimensions THOMAS R. LEINBACH and STANLEY D. BRUNN, both of the University of Kentucky, USA Worlds of Electronic Commerce attempts to capture the enormous international impact of the recent explosion in information and communication technologies. It stands alone as the first book to tackle the major economic, social, and political issues that electronic commerce raises from interdisciplinary and international perspectives. Including contributions from leading international scholars from geography, economics, and public policy, it addresses theoretical and conceptual issues and presents case studies on how retailing, job searches, banking and finance, telecommunications, and government regulation are changing with the introduction and diffusion of the Internet and various electronic services. References to rapid developments in these fields are drawn from the United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Russia, and the developing world. The implications of these developments on consumer behaviour, existing and new firms, regulatory agencies, and interstate economic development are also discussed. In summary, the book presents an excellent background for those wanting scholarly treatments of (a) the background of e-commerce, (b) the growing importance of Information and Communication Technologies, and (c) case studies related to specific services making use of e-commerce. READERSHIP: Academics and Students in Information Economies, Information and Communications Technologies, Economics, Marketing, Retailing, Advertising, Communications, Technology Diffusion, Geography Dealing with Electronic Commerce

Table of Contents:
List of Contributors vii Preface and Acknowledgements ix Introduction E-Commerce Definition, Dimensions and Constraints xi Thomas R. Leinbach and Stanley D. Brunn Part 1 E-commerce: Meaning, Theory, and Impacts Chapter 1 Emergence of the Digital Economy and E-Commerce 3 Thomas R. Leinbach Chapter 2 Towards an Economics of the Internet and E-Commerce 27 Kenneth Button and Samantha Taylor Chapter 3 Beyond Transaction Costs: E-Commerce and the Power of the Internet Dataspace 45 Martin Kenney and James Curry Chapter 4 Towards a Location Theory of Distributed Computing and E-Commerce 67 Michael F. Goodchild Chapter 5 Maybe the Death of Distance, but not the End of Geography: the Internet as a Network 87 Edward J. Malecki and Sean P. Gorman Part II E-Commerce in Firm, Regional, and International Context Chapter 6 The Information Society, Japanese Style: Corner Stores as Hubs for E-Commerce Access 109 Yuko Aoyama Chapter 7 Internet Economics and the Outline Recruiting Industry 129 Sharon Cobb Chapter 8 Grounding Global Flows: Constructing an E-Commerce Hub in Singapore 145 Neil M. Coe and Henry Wai-chung Yeung Chapter 9 Finding the Source of Amazon.com: Examining the Store with the ‘Earth’s Biggest Selection’ Martin Dodge Chapter 10 Electronic Banking and the City System in the Netherlands 181 Marina van Geenhuizen and Peter Nijkamp Chapter 11 Global Electronic Spaces: Singapore’s Role in the Foreign Exchange Market in the Asia Pacific Region 203 John Langdale Part III E-commerce: Financial, Legal, and State Dimensions Chapter 12 The Currency of Currency: Speed, Sovereignty, and Electronic Finance 223 Barney Warf and Darren Purcell Chapter 13 Information and Communication Technologies and the Integration of European Derivatives Markets 241 Dominic Power Chapter 14 ‘Dry Counties’ in Cyberspace: Governance and Enforcement without Geographic Borders 257 Priscilla M. Regan Chapter 15 Dot com Development: Are IT Lines Better than Tractors? 277 Mark I. Wilson Chapter 16 Corporate Nations: The Emergence of New sovereignties 293 Thomas M. Edwards References 315 Index 345