Prof. Chellappa’s current research focuses on economic, behavioral and technical aspects of electronic markets. In particular, his research aims to understand how the adoption of the Internet by both consumers and vendors has changed conventional views of products and business transactions. His recent research includes:
Pricing for Platforms and Electronic Markets
- Sheehan, D., Hamilton, R., and Chellappa, R.K., “When Is Hilo Low? Price Image Formation Based on Frequency Versus Depth Pricing Strategies,” Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 49, No. 4, pp. 543-560, 2022.
- Chellappa, R.K., and Mukherjee, R., Platform Preannouncement Strategies: The Strategic Role of Information in Two-Sided Markets Competition, Management Science, Vol. 67, No. 3, pp. 1527-1545, 2021.
Link to Online Appendix
Runner-up, e-Business Section Best Paper Award, INFORMS Annual Meeting, Houston, TX October 22-25, 2017. - Chellappa, R. K., and Mehra, A., Cost Drivers of Versioning: Pricing and Product Line Strategies for Information Goods, Management Science, Vol. 64, No. 5, pp. 2164-2190, 2018.
Best Paper Award, Conference on Information Systems & Technology (CIST) – INFORMS 2013, Minneapolis, MN, Oct. 5-6, 2013. - Chellappa, R. K., and Kumar, R., Examining the Role of Free Product-Augmenting Online Services in Pricing and Customer Retention Strategies, Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 355 – 377, Summer 2005.
- Chellappa, R. K., Sin, R., and Siddarth, S., Price-formats as a Source of Price Dispersion: A Study of Online and Offline Prices in the Domestic US Airline Markets, Information Systems Research, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 83–98, March 2011.
(part of this research was presented at WISE 2005: Workshop on Information Systems and Economics, Irvine, CA, December 10-11, 2005) - Sin, R., Chellappa, R. K., and Siddarth, S., Pricing Strategy and Technology Choices: An Empirical Investigation of “Everyday Low Price” in the Domestic US Airline Sector, under review
(part of this research was presented at ICIS2006: International Conference on Information Systems, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, December 10-13, 2006.)
Pricing and Piracy of digital goods
- Chellappa, R. K., and Shivendu,S., A Model of Publisher – Retailer Supply Chain Contracts for Digital Products Suffering from Piracy, under review
- Chellappa, R. K., and Shivendu, S., Managing Piracy: Pricing and Sampling Strategies for Digital Experience Goods in Vertically Segmented Markets, Information Systems Research, Vol. 16, No. 4, December 2005, pp. 400–417.
(part of this research was accepted at WISE 2002: Workshop on Information Systems and Economics, Barcelona, Spain, December 14-15, 2002) - Chellappa, R. K., and Shivendu, S., Economic Implications of Variable Technology Standards for Optical Disc Piracy in a Global Context, Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 20 No. 2, Fall 2003 pp. 137 – 168.
Nominated for best paper award in the Internet and the Digital Economy Track in The Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences – 36, Big Island, HI, January 6-9, 2003. - Chellappa, R. K., Chen, Y., and V. Sriram, An Empirical Examination of Global Software Piracy: Pricing and Policy Implications, under review.
(part of this research was presented at WISE 2006: Workshop on Information Systems and Economics, Evanston, IL, December 9-10, 2006)
Personalization and Privacy issues in online markets
- Chellappa, R. K., and Shivendu, S., Mechanism Design for “Free” but “No Free Disposal Services”: The Economics of Personalization under Privacy Concerns, Management Science, Vol. 56, No. 10, pp. 1766-1780, 2010.
- Chellappa, R. K., Consumers’ Trust in Electronic Commerce Transactions: The Role of Perceived Privacy and Perceived Security, unpublished manuscript
- Chellappa, R. K., and Sin, R., Personalization versus Privacy: An Empirical Examination of the Online Consumer’s Dilemma, Information Technology and Management, Vol. 6, No. 2-3, pp. 181-202, 2005.
- Chellappa, R. K., and Shivendu, S., An economic model of privacy: A property rights approach to regulatory choices for online personalization, Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 24, No. 3, (Winter 2007-2008) pp. 193-225.
(Best Conference Theme Paper Award, 8th Conference on Information Systems & Technology (CIST) at INFORMS 2003, Oct. 18-19, Atlanta, GA) - Chellappa, R. K., and Sin, R., Competition for Customer Information: An Economic Model of Online Personalization Strategies in the Presence of Privacy Concerns, under review
(part of this research presented in ICIS 2004: International Conference on Information Systems, Washington, D.C., December 12 – 15, 2004 - Chellappa, R. K., and Shivendu, S., A model of advertiser—portal contracts: Personalization strategies under privacy concerns, Information Technology and Management, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2006, pp. 7-19.
Information technology standards and its role in shaping competition and alliance formation
- Chellappa, R. K., and Saraf, N., Alliances, Rivalry and Firm Performance in Enterprise Systems Software Markets: A Social Network Approach, Information Systems Research, Vol. 21, No. 4, 2010, pp. 849-871.
(part of this research appeared earlier in the Organizations and Management Theory track at the Academy of Management, Denver, CO, August 9-14, 2002) - Chellappa, R. K., Sambamurthy, V., and Saraf, N., Competing in Crowded Markets: Multimarket Contact and the Nature of Competition in the Enterprise Systems Software Industry,Information Systems Research, Vol. 21, No. 3, 2010, pp. 614-630.
(part of this research appeared earlier in the Organizations and Management Theory track at the Academy of Management, Denver, CO, August 9-14, 2002)
Cloud Computing
The first known academic usage and definition of the term Cloud Computing appears to be provided by Prof. Chellappa in a talk titled Intermediaries in Cloud-Computing, presented at the INFORMS meeting in Dallas in 1997.
- Chellappa, R.K., Intermediaries in Cloud-Computing: A New Computing Paradigm, INFORMS Annual Meeting, Dallas, TX, October 26-29, 1997.
He suggested that this would be a new “computing paradigm where the boundaries of computing will be determined by economic rationale rather than technical limits alone.“
A follow-up research in 2002 refers to this definition and proposes pricing models specifically for active intranets.
- Chellappa, R.K., and Gupta, A., Managing Computing Resources in Active Intranets, International Journal of Network Management, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp.117-128, March/April 2002.