Determinants and Welfare Implications of Unlawful File Sharing: A Scoping Review

We employ an innovative scoping review methodology to consider and assess the existing evidence on the consequences and determinants of unlawful file sharing (UFS) transparently and systematically. We complement this with a simple conceptual framework to model the decision to engage in UFS and to map out the existing evidence. Whether UFS is good or bad for welfare remains unclear. Regarding determinants of UFS, studies that employ observed behavior as a measured outcome remain few, and fewer still for potential moral, experiential and social determinants. More experimental and longitudinal studies assessing causality are needed.