Exploring the Determinants of Scholarly Book Prices in the Fields of Science, Technology, and Medicine

This empirical study examines long-term and current book market trends and important factors affecting scholarly book prices in science, technology, and medicine (STM). It analyzes the market demand, supply, and prices of STM books and how they affect academic libraries' budgets. A semilogarithmic econometric model is formulated to explore the factors that affect STM book prices. Various product features, including book length, cover type, format, supplier types, and publication locations, are examined. The empirical results are mostly statistically significant, particularly for some key factors. The overall findings of this study have policy implications for academic libraries' books collections and acquisitions.