Latest additions to the Development Informatics online working paper
series:
http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/idpm/research/publications/wp/di/index
.htm

32: Online "Gold Farming": Developing Country Production for Virtual
Economies (Richard Heeks)

The first systematic analysis of "gold farming": the production of
virtual goods and services for players of online games, that employs
hundreds of thousands in developing countries and earns hundreds of
millions of dollars annually. Analyses from economic, sociological,
business and developmental perspectives, and sets out an agenda for
future research.

31: Deconstructing Community Participation in Telecentre Projects
(Savita Bailur)

Critiques the assumed link between community participation and
telecentre success; finding no hard evidence of a relation and a
problematic understanding of the term "community". Asks that
telecentre policy-makers and implementers treat this causality in
more complex terms than at present.

30: Researching ICT-Based Enterprise in Developing Countries:
Analytical Tools and Models (Richard Heeks)

Provides a guide for those researching ICT-based enterprises in
developing countries. Offers a series of frameworks for analysis
from basic classificatory models to those that can analyse
competitive strategy, impact, context and the enterprise lifecycle.
In each case, provides an explanation of basic concepts, and a sense
of what research using the particular framework would offer.