The Rise of Digital Platforms – Effects on Competition

Authors

  • Assoc. Prof. Dr Vera Pirimova Department of Economics, Faculty of General Economics, UNWE Author
  • Ivanina Mancheva, PhD Student Department of Economics, Faculty of General Economics, UNWE Author

Keywords:

Online platforms, Network effects, Digitization, Мarket power
D40, D47, L11, L12, L15, L40, L51

Abstract

The study focuses on multi-sided markets (platforms) as a specific materialization of competition in a digital context. We describe the determinants of the rise of platforms and their effects on competition. Stemming from digitalization, network effects, economies of scale, high sunk costs and high switching costs lead to lock-ins. This changes the nature of competition as well as some key features of value creation in traditional markets of goods and services. These challenges are considered in terms of possible regulatory solutions.

References

David Autor, David Dorn, Lawrence F. Katz, Christina Patterson, John Van Reenen (2017). The Fall of the Labor Share and the Rise of Superstar Firms. DOI: https://www.nber.org/papers/w23396

PA David - The American economic review, 1985 (1985). Clio and the Economics of QWERTY. American Economic Review, 75(2), 332-337. URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1805621

D Easley, J Kleinberg (2010). Networks, crowds, and markets: Reasoning about a highly connected world. Cambridge University Press. URL: https://academic.oup.com/jrssig/article-abstract/9/4/43/7029960

DS Evans, R Schmalensee, MD Noel… - … : Essays on Multi …, 2011 (2011). Platform economics: Essays on multi-sided businesses. Competition Policy International (Ed. David S. Evans). URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1974020

DS Evans, R Schmalensee (2016). Matchmakers: The new economics of multisided platforms. Harvard Business Review Press. URL: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=pIhZCwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=Matchmakers+The+New+Economics+of+Multisided+Platforms+Evans&ots=0D2pdlrzm7&sig=itmDdw6r_8UiCHKtfb2gs0PwKNY

Avi and Catherine and Goldfarb and Tucker and first and additional and University of Toronto and NBER. and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management and NBER. (2019). Digital Economics. Journal of Economic Literature, 57(1), 3-43. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.20171452

LM Khan - Yale lJ, 2016 (2016). Amazon's antitrust paradox. Yale Law Journal, 126(3). URL: https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/ylr126&section=18

Katz Michael L and Shapiro Carl (1994). Systems Competition and Network Effects. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 8(2), 93-115. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.8.2.93

Liebowitz S. J and Margolis Stephen E (1994). Network Externality: An Uncommon Tragedy. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 8(2), 133-150. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.8.2.133

S Simeonov - Economic Alternatives, 2020 (2020). Path dependence: determinants and impacts of technology adoption. Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, 300-310. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Simeon-Simeonov-4/publication/342572339_Path_Dependence_Determinants_and_Impacts_of_Technology_Adoption/links/5efbbcc5458515505080de4b/Path-Dependence-Determinants-and-Impacts-of-Technology-Adoption.pdf

HR Varian, J Farrell, C Shapiro (2004). The economics of information technology: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. URL: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=-dcLAQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=The+Economics+of+Information+Technology+An+Introduction+Varian&ots=ZgNPN7r_jZ&sig=7f1KDFbVZJw0JVHof4AgcXZP61Y

S Center (2019). Stigler Committee on Digital Platforms. URL: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=LizKEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA27&dq=Stigler+Committee+on+Digital+Platforms+Final+Report+Zingales&ots=YgewMTtwNr&sig=v2-gRoqBJxbOTs_57_RTUgticIc (accessed n.d.)

Published

2021-07-19

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Pirimova, V., & Mancheva, I. (2021). The Rise of Digital Platforms – Effects on Competition. Research Papers, 3, 95-109. https://yb.e-dnrs.org/index.php/rp/article/view/5276