Virtual Economies, Virtual Goods and Service Delivery in Virtual Worlds

The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research recently profiled virtual economies, virtual goods, and service delivery in virtual worlds. Of particular interest to readers of The Monetary Future are the discussions surrounding unregulated virtual currencies and the evolving two-way exchange into real-world currencies.

From the summary:

In this special edition (Volume 2, Number 4, February 2010) on virtual-world goods and trade, we are pleased to present articles from a global cohort of contributors covering a wide range of issues. Some of our writers, such Edward Castronova, Julian Dibbell or KZero’s Nic Mitham will be well known to you as distinguished leaders in the field, but it is equally our pleasure to introduce exciting new voices. Here you will find pieces written by academics, practitioners, journalists, a documentary filmmaker and perhaps the youngest contributor to JVWR yet, Eli Kosminksy, who attends high school in upstate New York. We would also point out that this issue extends its format to include Anthony Gilmore’s pictorial story, Julian Dibbell’s audio interview, and Lori Landay’s machinima. In real life, most contributors live in the US, the UK and Europe, and we, the editors, are based in Australia and France.

The editorial team for this issue includes Mandy Salomon of Smart Services CRC, Australia and Serge Soudoplatoff of ESCP-EAP/Hetic, France.

The selected research articles related to virtual currencies and the real-money trade are:

"On Money and Magic", Edward Castronova

"Understanding 'Gold Farming' and Real-Money Trading as the Intersection of Real and Virtual Economies", Richard Heeks

"Currencies and Capitalisms on the Internet", Minna Ruckenstein

For further reading:
"Second Life's virtual money can become real-life cash", Michael S. Rosenwald, Washington Post, March 8, 2010
"In-world payments come to OpenSim grids", Maria Korolov, Hypergrid Business, March 2, 2010
"Lights Going Out in the Anti-RMT Bunker", Edward Castronova, Terra Nova, February 16, 2010
"Virtual Goods, Accounting, and the Power of the 'Rental' Model", Bill Gurley, February 8, 2010
"VirWoX Picks Neovia for L$ Exchange", Maria Korolov, Hypergrid Business, September 23, 2009