Wikipedia matters

Hinnosaar, Marit; Hinnosaar, Toomas; Kummer, Michael; Slivko, Olga

Abstract

We document a causal impact of online user-generated information on real-world economic outcomes. In particular, we conduct a randomized field experiment to test whether additional content on Wikipedia pages about cities affects tourists' choices of overnight visits. Our treatment of adding information to Wikipedia increases overnight stays in treated cities compared to nontreated cities. The impact is largely driven by improvements to shorter and relatively incomplete pages on Wikipedia. Our findings highlight the value of digital public goods for informing individual choices.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 4, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Mar 10, 2021
• Publication Date: Mar 10, 2021
• Deposit Date: Jun 22, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 11, 2023
• Journal: Journal of Economics & Management Strategy
• Print ISSN: 1058-6407
• Electronic ISSN: 1530-9134
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 32
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 657-669
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jems.12421
• Keywords: field experiment; user-generated content; Wikipedia; tourism industry * We are grateful to Irene
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4699829
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jems.12421
• Additional Information: Received: 2018-07-08; Accepted: 2019-10-04; Published: 2021-03-10