Using a unique and comprehensive data source, we measure price changes for Microsoft's desktop personal computer software products during the time period July 1993 through June 2001. This paper contributes to a relatively small literature on price measurement of pre-packaged software by incorporating important channels of distribution, such as volume licensing and Original Equipment Manufacturer, as well as changes in product form, such as upgrades and integrated productivity suites, into matched-model price indexes. Although there are differences over time periods and across products, we find that the prices of Microsoft's desktop operating systems and applications have generally been falling over this time period.
*Published: This paper was subsequently published as Price Indexes for Microsoft, Jaison R. Abel, Ernst R. Berndt, Alan G. White, in NBER book Hard-to-Measure Goods and Services: Essays in Honor of Zvi Griliches (2007)
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