# The Economics of Social Data

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.03107 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.03107/

## Key facts

- Cited by 6 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 7 Apr 2020.

## Built on by (most cited first, 6 of 6)

- [Data Market Design through Deep Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.20096/) (2023)
- [A Survey of Data Pricing for Data Marketplaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.04810/) (2023)
- [Equilibrium of Data Markets with Externality](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.08012/) (2023)
- [Time and the Value of Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.09118/) (2022)
- [How to Sell High-Dimensional Data Optimally](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.15214/) (2025)
- [Market Design for AI: Beyond the Copyright Binary](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.12260/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

A data intermediary acquires signals from individual consumers regarding their preferences. The intermediary resells the information in a product market wherein firms and consumers tailor their choices to the demand data. The social dimension of the individual data -- whereby a consumer's data are predictive of others' behavior -- generates a data externality that can reduce the intermediary's cost of acquiring the information. The intermediary optimally preserves the privacy of consumers' identities if and only if doing so increases social surplus. This policy enables the intermediary to capture the total value of the information as the number of consumers becomes large.