Users' knowledge as a specific asset: the case of the valued added services

Abstract

This article examines the value-added services (VAS) market. The production of these services requires the cooperation of assets and competences owned by different categories of firms. The first part of the paper points out the nature of the services and identifies a number of firms which are involved in the VAS production. The second part of the paper is based on a statistical analysis of an original sample. Three classes of services are discriminated: enhanced communication services, dedicated services, and information services. Then, we focus our attention on the dedicated services. A detailed analysis of this category enables us to identify three sub-groups of services: specialized communication services, community services and on Une transaction services. Moreover the production of these dedicated services is driven by users. It is concluded that users have gained control over a wide segment of the VAS market because they own some specific competences and knowledge.