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Re: Graphing the Bergstrom and McAfee Journal Pricing Data



I don't wish to engage the substance of this debate, but I will clarify one business point.

* There are three, not two, structural categories. A journal publisher can remain independent (category #1).

* A journal publisher can license rights, usually for a limited period of time, to a larger publisher. That larger publisher essentially becomes THE publisher: setting prices, etc.

* The third category is when the journal publisher forms a distribution (not publishing) relationship with a larger publisher. The larger publisher makes its operations available to the smaller publisher--essentially it sells services. But the smaller publisher still controls pricing and many aspects of marketing. Such distribution agreements often have shorter terms than full-fledged publishing agreements. Apparently Lisa Dittrich's organization has a distribution agreement with a larger publisher.

None of this challenges the core of Bergstrom and McAfee's findings, as far as I can tell: Most of the time most commercial operations charge more than most not-for-profit organizations. I don't think this is a startling claim.

Joe Esposito