Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
In markets subject to network effects, firms often remove some functions of their original products and sell a functionally‐downgraded version at a lower or zero price. This paper aims to provide a pure network effect based explanation of such a practice. Building a functional degradation model with asymmetric network effects, we investigate when and why firms have incentives to introduce a functionally‐degraded good and discuss its welfare implication.