74

As an introduction to a series of contributions about Internet economics, the present paper has three goals. We firstly recall several basic facts and principles characterizing the morphology of the Internet, its operating system, its regulation procedures, as well as its rapid success which today makes it the “net of nets” as well as a universal platform for information exchanges and commercial transactions. Then we show how the economics of the “Internet system”, by creating original types of relationship and coordination between economic and social agents, acts as a catalyst generating mutations in market structures and hierarchical settings, thus synthesizing, as in a laboratory, the scheme of an emerging “digital economy”. Finally, we draw up an agenda for the theoretical and empirical researchers in this field, aiming for a better understanding of the Internet’s dynamic driving forces and for a relevant assessment of its impact on economic organization and growth. Classification JEL: D00, H4, L00, L86, O3