Edward Castronova
Encyclopedia
Edward "Ted" Castronova is a Professor of Telecommunications at Indiana University Bloomington
. He is known in particular for his work on the economies of synthetic worlds.
in 1985 and a PhD in Economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
in 1991. In between, he spent 18 months studying German postwar reconstruction and social policy at universities and research institutes in Mannheim
, Frankfurt
, and Berlin
. From 1991 to 2000, he worked as an Assistant and then Associate Professor of Public Policy and Political Science at University of Rochester
, after which he became an Associate Professor of Economics in the College of Business and Economics at California State University, Fullerton
. In the fall 2004, he joined the faculty of Indiana University Bloomington
as an associate professor of Telecommunication and Cognitive Science, later becoming a full professor and also the Director of Graduate Studies in the department .
His works on synthetic worlds and their economies, and on EverQuest
in particular, have attracted considerable attention. His paper on Norrath, a fictional planet in the EverQuest universe, Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier (2001) is available on SSRN. It claims, for example, that Norrath has a GNP per capita somewhere between that of Russia
and Bulgaria
, higher than that of China
and India
, and that a unit of EverQuest currency is worth more than the Yen or Lira
.
His is one of four founders (along with Julian Dibbell
, Dan Hunter and Greg Lastowka) of the game research blog Terra Nova
. He also created the Indiana University
Ludium game conferences which were built on the structure of a collaborative game environment.
In 2008, he and his team finished work on the MacArthur Foundation
supported academic experiment massively multiplayer online gaming
, Arden: The World of Shakespeare
. They documented that people in fantasy games act in an economically normal way, purchasing less of a product when prices are higher, all other things being equal. This finding may open the way for future study in synthetic worlds of real economic behavior. Castronova said of the results, "Being an elf doesn't make you turn off the rational economic calculator part of your brain.".
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...
. He is known in particular for his work on the economies of synthetic worlds.
Biography
Edward Castronova obtained a BS in International Affairs from Georgetown UniversityGeorgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
in 1985 and a PhD in Economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
in 1991. In between, he spent 18 months studying German postwar reconstruction and social policy at universities and research institutes in Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
, Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. From 1991 to 2000, he worked as an Assistant and then Associate Professor of Public Policy and Political Science at University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
, after which he became an Associate Professor of Economics in the College of Business and Economics at California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton is a public university located in Fullerton, California. It is the largest institution in the CSU System by enrollment, it offers long-distance education and adult-degree programs...
. In the fall 2004, he joined the faculty of Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...
as an associate professor of Telecommunication and Cognitive Science, later becoming a full professor and also the Director of Graduate Studies in the department .
His works on synthetic worlds and their economies, and on EverQuest
EverQuest
EverQuest, often shortened to EQ, is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game that was released on the 16th of March, 1999. The original design is credited to Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover, and Bill Trost...
in particular, have attracted considerable attention. His paper on Norrath, a fictional planet in the EverQuest universe, Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier (2001) is available on SSRN. It claims, for example, that Norrath has a GNP per capita somewhere between that of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, higher than that of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, and that a unit of EverQuest currency is worth more than the Yen or Lira
Lira
Lira is the name of the monetary unit of a number of countries, as well as the former currency of Italy, Malta, San Marino and the Vatican City and Israel. The term originates from the value of a Troy pound of high purity silver. The libra was the basis of the monetary system of the Roman Empire...
.
His is one of four founders (along with Julian Dibbell
Julian Dibbell
Julian Dibbell is an American author and technology journalist with a particular interest in social systems within online communities. His 1993 article "A Rape in Cyberspace" detailed attempts of LambdaMOO, an online community, to quantify and deal with lawbreaking in its midst. The article was...
, Dan Hunter and Greg Lastowka) of the game research blog Terra Nova
Terra Nova (blog)
Terra Nova is a collaborative blog for academics and professionals in game studies. It focuses primarily on the study of virtual worlds.Started in 2003 by Edward Castronova, Julian Dibbell, Dan Hunter, and Greg Lastowka, Terra Nova initially focused heavily on research and questions surrounding...
. He also created the Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
Ludium game conferences which were built on the structure of a collaborative game environment.
In 2008, he and his team finished work on the MacArthur Foundation
MacArthur Foundation
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the United States. Based in Chicago but supporting non-profit organizations that work in 60 countries, MacArthur has awarded more than US$4 billion since its inception in 1978...
supported academic experiment massively multiplayer online gaming
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
, Arden: The World of Shakespeare
Arden: The World of Shakespeare
Arden: The World of Shakespeare was a proposed massively multiplayer online game to be created by a team led by Edward Castronova of Indiana University.The project was sponsored by a $250,000 MacArthur Foundation grant...
. They documented that people in fantasy games act in an economically normal way, purchasing less of a product when prices are higher, all other things being equal. This finding may open the way for future study in synthetic worlds of real economic behavior. Castronova said of the results, "Being an elf doesn't make you turn off the rational economic calculator part of your brain.".
See also
- Virtual economyVirtual economyA virtual economy is an emergent economy existing in a virtual persistent world, usually exchanging virtual goods in the context of an Internet game...
- EverQuestEverQuestEverQuest, often shortened to EQ, is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game that was released on the 16th of March, 1999. The original design is credited to Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover, and Bill Trost...
- Arden: The World of ShakespeareArden: The World of ShakespeareArden: The World of Shakespeare was a proposed massively multiplayer online game to be created by a team led by Edward Castronova of Indiana University.The project was sponsored by a $250,000 MacArthur Foundation grant...
- Terra Nova (blog)Terra Nova (blog)Terra Nova is a collaborative blog for academics and professionals in game studies. It focuses primarily on the study of virtual worlds.Started in 2003 by Edward Castronova, Julian Dibbell, Dan Hunter, and Greg Lastowka, Terra Nova initially focused heavily on research and questions surrounding...
External links
- Edward Castronova's webpage
- "Synthetic worlds – real community, real money" article in vodafone-receiver magazine nr.19
- Terra Nova Blog
- Interview with Castronova on EconTalk
Papers
- Castronova, Edward. "A Test of the Law of Demand in a Virtual World: Exploring the Petri Dish Approach to Social Science"
- http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1173642, July 2008
- Castronova, Edward. "Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier," CESifo Working Paper No. 618, December 2001.
- Castronova, Edward. "On Virtual Economies," CESifo Working Paper Series No. 752, July 2002.
- Castronova, Edward. "The Price of 'Man' and 'Woman': A Hedonic Pricing Model of Avatar Attributes in a Synthethic World," CESifo Working Paper Series No. 957, June 2003.
Media
- BBC News - Virtual gaming worlds overtake Namibia
- Norrath Economic Report Now Available - Slashdot.org on Castronova's report
- The Walrus Magazine: "On-line fantasy games have booming economies and citizens who love their political systems. Are these virtual worlds the best place to study the real one?"
Books
- Edward Castronova. Exodus to the Virtual World, Palgrave Macmillan (2007). ISBN 1-4039-8412-3
- Edward Castronova. Synthetic Worlds, University of Chicago Press (2005). ISBN 0-226-09626-2