Affiliations: ECARES – Université Libre de Bruxelles, CP 114, Av. F.D. Roosevelt, 50, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium. E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: In our report for DG-Research of the European Commission entitled “Study on the economic and technical evolution of the scientific publication markets in Europe”, published almost two years ago, we showed that, on average, journals published by for-profit publishers are three times more expensive than journals published by not-for-profit publishers. Not-for-profit publishers are, in general, not subsidized, and our results are thus consistent with impediments to effective competition on the market for scientific publications. Relying on these observations I address two questions sequentially. First, I review the potential, natural and strategic barriers to expansion and entry. Second, scientific associations have large market shares in some scientific disciplines. I discuss the objectives of not-for-profit publishers and study whether they help innovate and drive prices down. Finally, I conclude that there is a need to promote pro-competitive, i.e. much more flexible, pricing strategies, scrutinize mergers, and refund VAT to research institutions.
