When AI lowers barriers to platform participation, who benefits? The latest #PlatformPapers post argues that the same #AI tool can democratize participation at the individual level while reinforcing inequality at the #platform level. platformpapers.substack.com/p/when-ai-lo...

When AI Lowers Barriers, Who Benefits?

The same AI tool can democratize participation at the individual level while reinforcing inequality at the platform level.

platformpapers.substack.com

How do complementors respond when the platform they rely on moves into their space and competes head on? That's the focus of the latest #PlatformPapers blog, and the answer depends on the extent complementors have outside options. platformpapers.substack.com/p/competing-...

Competing with Platforms

How complementors reposition when platforms compete with them head-on

platformpapers.substack.com

In the mature #platformeconomy, competition often comes from within. Complementors must walk a fine line if they wish to break out of Big Tech platforms and become platform competitors in their own right. This is the Complementor's Dilemma. platformpapers.substack.com/p/the-comple...

The Complementor’s Dilemma

How can challengers grow inside platform ecosystems dominated by big-tech firms?

platformpapers.substack.com

Remember when folks feared that Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard would make Xbox dominant to the point where PlayStation and Nintendo would no longer be able to compete?! 👀🎮 www.gamesindustry.biz/xbox-retreat...

substack.com/@paulbellefl...

Paul Belleflamme (@paulbelleflamme)

Platforms don’t just “go bad” by squeezing their users — they can also lose their mission and export hidden costs to everyone around them. My latest three posts look at: - Enshittification explained...

substack.com

Data can be a source of #competitiveadvantage for digital #platforms and has therefore been a key focus for regulators. Two provisions include data siloing and data sharing, but how do these restrictions affect innovation, competition, and welfare? platformpapers.substack.com/p/regulating...

Regulating Data on Digital Platforms

When it comes to innovation and welfare, sharing beats siloing.

platformpapers.substack.com

Managers and academics have long tracked unit sales as a key performance metric for video games. But in a world where games increasingly operate as services with fragmented monetization, sales no longer tell the full story. User engagement might be more meaninful. www.linkedin.com/posts/gjriet...

#platformpapers #videogames #service #engagement #subscription #xbox #gamepass #playstation | Joost Rietveld

In the latest #PlatformPapers blog, Michiel Van Crombrugge (based on joint work with Stefan Stremersch) reminds us about the importance of analyzing the 'right' performance indicators. For many year...

linkedin.com

Another great platform summit at the 4th annual #EU-DPRN conference in #Aalto. Great presentations, panels and updates on platform literature and state of the field. Thanks to Joost, Carmelo, Panos and local organizers for putting together this great event! @gjrietveld.bsky.social #eu-dprn

What happens to non-promoted items when a platform operator selectively promotes some of its items, but not others? The latest PlatformPapers post discusses this question drawing from experimental research. Promotion has positive spill over effects, but not to all. open.substack.com/pub/platform...

One Badge, Many Winners: The Spillover Effects of Platform Endorsement

Platform endorsement increases sales for endorsed items—but the bigger story is what it does for everything else.

open.substack.com

I wrote this chart-filled piece about game console price increases ~9 months ago and it is already out of date because Sony and Nintendo have increased prices again in the interim! arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/...

Today’s game consoles are historically overpriced

Ars analysis shows missing price cuts are costing console consumers hundreds of dollars.

arstechnica.com

Regulating digital #platforms to keep markets competitive is hard. There can often be unintended consequences. The latest #PlatformPapers blog documents how #China's digital platform #regulation stiffled entrepreneurial activity and capital markets. open.substack.com/pub/platform...

When Platform Antitrust Chills Entrepreneurship

Evidence from China

open.substack.com

In 2019, GrubHub added 150,000 restaurants to its food-delivery platform ... without their knowledge! The latest PlatformPapers blog asks: What Happens When Platforms Add Suppliers Who Never Signed Up? open.substack.com/pub/platform...

What Happens When Platforms Add Suppliers Who Never Signed Up?

GrubHub added 150,000 restaurants ... without their knowledge

open.substack.com

Online review platforms such as #TripAdvisor and #Yelp can help travelers avoid "tourist traps", but what is their effect on restaurant market composition and competition really? Dante Donati discusses these questions in the latest #PlatformPapers blog! open.substack.com/pub/platform...

How Review Platforms Reshape Competition

The End of Tourist Traps

open.substack.com

An oft-heard rebuttal to the dominance of #BigTech firms is that "competition is only one click away." But is competition really only one click away? Michelangelo Rossi discusses his research on Google Maps and the DMA in the latest #PlatformPapers blog. platformpapers.substack.com/p/is-competi...

Is Competition Really Only One Click Away?

What the DMA’s Google Maps experiment tells us about contestability in digital markets

platformpapers.substack.com

Food-delivery #platforms didn't 'disrupt' the #restaurant industry, but they still had a meaningful impact on market composition. In the latest #PlatformPapers blog, Manav Raj and JP Eggers explain what happens when delivery platforms come to town. platformpapers.substack.com/p/when-deliv...

When Delivery Comes to Town

How platform entry affects industry structure and competition

platformpapers.substack.com

Interested in the state of #platform competition research in 2025? Read about it in the Platform Papers 2025 Year in Review post where I discuss the how, what, where, and who of platforms research. platformpapers.substack.com/p/platform-p...

Platform Papers 2025 Year-in-Review

The state of platform competition research in 2025.

platformpapers.substack.com

Academic research has long focused on how platforms have enabled innovation & economic growth, while accumulating immense power. But what happens when that power is wielded inconsistently? Annabelle Gawer & Martin Harraca discuss in the latest #PlatformPapers blog. open.substack.com/pub/platform...

What happens to ecosystem diversity and #platform match quality after a platform introduces paid #discovery tools (e.g., Apple's search result ads)? @kai-zzzzzz.bsky.social and co-authors share insights from #Goodreads introduction of paid book giveaways. platformpapers.substack.com/p/the-price-...

The Price of Platform Participation

Goodreads’ introduction of paid giveaways reveals how charging for discovery affects ecosystem diversity and match quality.

platformpapers.substack.com

Together with Enrico and Alessandro we did a video interview with @faculti.bsky.social covering our ASQ article studying CrossFit gyms responding to a scandal involving the organization's CEO. It nicely shows our different but complementary perspectives on the study.

Faculti@faculti.bsky.social · 11mo ago

How does the social fabric of a community determine whether local businesses take a stand—or stay silent—on national controversies? @enricoforti.bsky.social, @alessandropiazza.bsky.social, @gjrietveld.bsky.social, @setonhall.bsky.social, @ucl.ac.uk discusses: faculti.net/when-communi... #economics

What happens when a star player leaves the market? In 'normal' markets you'd expect remaining firms to increase their output and sales, but not so much in platform markets. In the latest #PlatformPapers, what happened to Twitch streamers when Ninja left for Mixer? open.substack.com/pub/platform...

Star Wars

Why Ninja's sudden defection to Mixer made Twitch streamers less productive

open.substack.com

In the latest #PlatformPapers blog, @anilrdoshi.com discusses work on #blockbuster projects in the #crowdfunding industry. When a platform has a hit, it triggers additional entry. Entry rates are higher on #Indiegogo, but of higher quality on #Kickstarter. platformpapers.substack.com/p/blockbuste...

Blockbuster Projects Send Waves Hitting All Platforms

Successful crowdfunding projects spill over to competing platforms

platformpapers.substack.com

#Blockchain based initiatives (e.g. industry platforms for data sharing) are technologically #decentralized, but often they are owned and exploited by just one or a few companies. Read about this decentralization paradox in the latest #PlatformPapers blog. platformpapers.substack.com/p/the-platfo...

The Platform Governance Paradox

Why industry blockchain platforms struggle with centralization and decentralization

platformpapers.substack.com

Thousands of hotels are bringing a lawsuit against Booking.com. At the heart is Booking's "best price" clause. Such clauses can have myriad anticompetitive effects, seller collusion being one of them. Frank Schlutter explains on the #PlatformPapers blog. platformpapers.substack.com/p/the-impact...

The Impact of Platform Most-Favored Nation Clauses on Seller Competition

How platforms benefit when sellers collude on price

platformpapers.substack.com

We are hiring at Rotman Strategy in the Fall. Apply here. jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...

🚨 Thrilled to share our #AOM2025 symposium w/ @aldona.bsky.social & Yongzhi (Alex) Wang on #competition & #regulation in #platforms. 📅 July 29th | 🕝 1:45PM–3:15PM | 📍 Bella Center More here 👉 www.linkedin.com/posts/mostaj...

🚨Free data alert!! 🚨 Please share. Large new dataset of Amazon product reviews, including full text and photos and product characteristics, with individual *reviews labeled as fake reviews*. I believe this is the first publicly available data of this kind. github.com/bretthollenb...

Platform cooperatives are trying to make the sharing economy more equitable by competing against incumbents (e.g., Airbnb, Uber) from the margin. Read about how they try to do this in the latest #PlatformPapers blog here: platformpapers.substack.com/p/platform-c...

Platform Cooperatives Driving Change from the Margins

How to make the sharing economy more equitable

platformpapers.substack.com

Digital platforms can help fill institutional voids. In the latest #PlatformPapers blog Aparajita Agarwal and Valentina Assenova discuss research showing how M-Pesa's #mobilemoney platform acts as a steppingstone to #financialinclusion for the unbanked.

Mobile Money as a Steppingstone to Financial Inclusion

How Digital Multisided Platforms Fill Institutional Voids

platformpapers.substack.com

In the latest PlatformPapers blog, Ken Wilbur and Davide Proserpio discuss why #advertising is an emergent (but understudied) property of successful digital #platforms. A recommended read! platformpapers.substack.com/p/advertisin...

Advertising is an Emergent Property of Successful Platforms

Plus a public wager

platformpapers.substack.com

Now in-press at Academy of Management Perspectives: Hypercontinuous Innovation and Demand-Side Learning: Why Digital Platforms Enjoy Longer and More Expansive Market Leadership Positions joint with Melissa Schilling. journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5...