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This research explored the nature of suppliers who participate in informal markets. The study was based on a national probability sample of 1,600 households. Those that had engaged in both barterer and vendor behaviors were found to have the most distinct profile. The barterer/vendor group demonstrated the highest level of expenditures with informal suppliers (suppliers operating in an off‐the‐books fashion). They were also found to be the youngest and to have the highest level of income and education. The strong relationship between acting as an informal supplier, as both a vendor and a barterer, and the propensity to consume in informal markets is the most striking conclusion of the study.

While a company cannot control every channel of the distribution chain, there are some methods that can be used to prevent products from being pulled into the gray market.

This paper examines the gray market for consumer products, with a particular emphasis on the reasons for gray market growth, the distinct channels of distribution for gray market products, and the means by which the gray markets may be terminated. Secondary emphasis is provided on the factors that lead to gray market emergence and on the impact of exchange rates on gray markets. A major conclusion of the analysis is that gray markets for consumer products will continue to grow as manufacturers benefit from gray markets. This growth will be associated with products manufactured and distributed within the national market rather than imported products which fueled the gray market growth of the previous five years.

Due to the economic and strategic importance of telecommunication services, as well as projected growth rates in the information industries, countries have adopted policy restrictions on transborder data flows (TBDF) both into and out of their countries. The reasons for these measures include privacy concerns, national security and the competitiveness of national industries. The short‐term effects on multinational industries have been an increase in data processing costs and a loss of efficiency. Although trade has not yet been restricted in the long‐term, it is possible that trade, particularly in services, will be severely affected. The evolution and types of barriers to transborder data flow are described and their immediate impact on the telecommunications industry and possible ramifications for world trade in general are assessed.

This research was designed to reveal the magnitude of continued use of informal suppliers by household consumers as well as the relationship of such use with general market conditions. The results of this study are based on national probability samples of households in the United States which reported their purchases across 15 broad categories of goods and services in 1981 and 1985. The authors conclude that household consumer use of informal suppliers in the aggregate has no apparent relationship to the business cycle. In contrast, there is some indication that the individual categories of goods and services reflect a cyclical relationship with the business cycle. In general, “luxury” goods and services expanded while the more “basic” goods and services declined between 1981 and 1985. An important exception is the growth in informal retailing in the face of strong economic conditions.

Presidential Decision Directive 63 concerning critical infrastructure protection, was signed on May 22, 1998. This order created a Presidential Commission charged with formulating policy recommendations to the President on measures to protect the critical infrastructures of the USA from cyber‐based attack. These initiatives were advanced in the Bush Administration with Executive Order 13231 – Critical Infrastructure Protection in the Information Age, October 16, 2001. Critical infrastructures are defined as those that are so vital that their incapacity or destruction would have a debilitating impact on the defence or economic security of the country. Among these are finance and banking, and telecommunications, the pillars of commerce and the nascent electronic commerce (e‐commerce) industry. Subsequent to this, the new century began with the publication of Defending America’s Cyberspace: The National Plan for Information Systems Protection, the distributed denial of service attacks on Yahoo!, and other major sites, and the hundreds of millions of dollars in damage due to the Code Red and Nimda viruses. One month after the publication of The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace was distributed for comments (September 2002), the core domain name system root servers were attacked. In spite of these events, the reality is that market forces will continue to fuel the interest in e‐commerce regardless of concerns over security. Additionally, it will also remain difficult to encourage private sector openness and investment in security solutions in the absence of a major commercial catastrophe even in the face of rising customer expectations in service, security, and privacy. This paper explores these issues as they affect e‐commerce and suggests strategies to limit the potential impact of the array of threats facing critical infrastructures and e‐commerce. In doing so the paper discusses the importance of e‐commerce, the critical infrastructures, the threats to e‐commerce, and policies for protecting the organizations’ e‐commerce operations.