Optimal Pricing and Quality of Academic Journals and the Ambiguous Welfare Effects of Forced Open Access: A Two-sided Model

We analyse optimal pricing and quality of a monopolistic journal
and the optimality of open access in a two-sided model. The
predominant aspect of the model that determines the quality levels
at which open access is optimal is the nature of the (non-linear)
externalities between readers and authors in a journal. We show
that there exist scenarios in which open access is a feature of
high-quality journals. Besides, we find that the removal of
copyright (and thus forced open access) will likely increase both
readership and authorship, will decrease journal profits, and may
increase social welfare.