evidence on learning and network externalities in the diffusion of home computers austan goolsbee university chicago gsb american bar foundation nber peter j klenow current version december 2000 abstract this paper we examine importance local spilloverssuch as from othersin use data 110 000 us households 1997 controlling for many individual characteristics find that people are more likely to buy their first computer areas where a high fraction already own or when large share friends family further results suggest these patterns unlikely be explained by unobserved traits area features looked at detail spillovers appear come experienced intensive users they not associated with any particular type software but do seem highly tied e mail internet consistent being part an information communication thank severin borenstein anne case judy chevalier leora friedberg shane greenstein tom holmes
