Is Competition Really Only One Click Away?
What the DMAβs Google Maps experiment tells us about contestability in digital markets
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...
24.02.2026 09:19
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When Delivery Comes to Town
How platform entry affects industry structure and competition
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...
04.02.2026 16:45
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Platform Papers 2025 Year-in-Review
The state of platform competition research in 2025.
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...
23.12.2025 09:19
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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...
09.12.2025 09:15
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The Price of Platform Participation
Goodreadsβ introduction of paid giveaways reveals how charging for discovery affects ecosystem diversity and match quality.
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-...
20.11.2025 13:00
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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.
17.11.2025 11:42
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Star Wars
Why Ninja's sudden defection to Mixer made Twitch streamers less productive
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...
07.10.2025 09:10
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Blockbuster Projects Send Waves Hitting All Platforms
Successful crowdfunding projects spill over to competing platforms
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...
23.09.2025 08:04
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The Platform Governance Paradox
Why industry blockchain platforms struggle with centralization and decentralization
#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...
27.08.2025 12:53
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The Impact of Platform Most-Favored Nation Clauses on Seller Competition
How platforms benefit when sellers collude on price
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...
07.08.2025 11:57
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π¨ Thrilled to share our #AOM2025 symposium w/ @aldona.bsky.social & Yongzhi (Alex) Wang on #competition & #regulation in #platforms.
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July 29th | π 1:45PMβ3:15PM | π Bella Center
More here π www.linkedin.com/posts/mostaj...
13.07.2025 05:18
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π¨Free data alert!! π¨ 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...
11.07.2025 21:17
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Platform Cooperatives Driving Change from the Margins
How to make the sharing economy more equitable
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...
21.05.2025 12:43
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Mobile Money as a Steppingstone to Financial Inclusion
How Digital Multisided Platforms Fill Institutional Voids
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.
29.04.2025 14:01
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Advertising is an Emergent Property of Successful Platforms
Plus a public wager
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...
10.04.2025 07:36
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Star Entrepreneurs on Digital Platforms
Abnormal performance is normal in many platforms.
Abnormal performance is a normal feature of many digital platform. Read about research in the context of #Udemy by Kaushik Gala, Andreas Schwab, and Brandon Mueller in the latest #platformpapers blog. platformpapers.substack.com/p/star-entre...
18.03.2025 14:00
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Rethinking Market Power in the Digital Platform Era
Market share isn't everything.
In the latest #PlatformPapers blog, Paul Belleflamme, Eric Toulemonde and Martin Peitz argue that using market shares to proxy market power for digital platforms is complicated for several reasons. They offer insights to regulators, investors and managers.
platformpapers.substack.com/p/rethinking...
27.02.2025 13:32
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Demand Spillovers in Digital Platforms
When it comes to adding competitors, can more be merrier?
In the latest #PlatformPapers blog Manav Raj explores the effects of adding competitors in digital platforms. In the context of #Spotify he finds that when a major artist releases an album, related artists see their listenership rise by up to 3% and their overall popularity increase by 1β2%.
04.02.2025 14:02
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Reputation Spillover in Digital Markets
When agencies help or hurt creators
New Platform Papers blog: Reputation Spillover in Digital Markets - When Agencies Help or Hurt Creators platformpapers.substack.com/p/reputation...
14.01.2025 14:05
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Platform Papers 2024 Year in Review
Itβs that time of the year again. Time to look back and reflect.
The 2024 Platform Papers Year in Review is here! What were the top journals for platform competition research? Which were the top-cited papers and the most-read #PlatformPapers blogs? Read all about it and more by following the link. Happy holidays!ππ
platformpapers.substack.com/p/platform-p...
17.12.2024 08:36
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The Hidden Cost of Platform Diversification
When Uber eats its own business, and its competitorsβ too
What is the hidden cost of platform diversification? Read all about it in the latest Platform Papers blog, expertly written by David Chung, Maggie Zhou, and Christine Choi.
28.11.2024 08:20
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Network effects in online dating
The more the merrier?
When it comes to online dating platforms, is more merrier? β€οΈ That's the question Jessica Fong tackles in the latest #platformpapers blog. Drawing from an #experiment conducted on a leading #onlinedating #platform she obtained some interesting findings.
platformpapers.substack.com/p/network-ef...
25.06.2024 11:34
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Regulating Powerful Platforms
Unintended effects of imposing fee caps on US food-delivery platforms
We often talk about needing to regulate powerful platforms, but such interventions can have unintended second-order effects. Read the latest #PlatformPapers blog where Allen Li and Gang Wang discuss regulatory interventions on US food-delivery platforms. platformpapers.substack.com/p/regulating...
14.05.2024 08:07
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Smaller slices of a growing pie. How do seller entry and market expansion balance each other out in the context of food delivery platforms? Oren Reshef reports on his excellent research in the latest #platformpapers blog! platformpapers.substack.com/p/smaller-sl...
28.03.2024 12:46
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Tomorrow is D(MA)-Day! The Digital Markets Act, Europe's framework targeted at gatekeeper companies went into effect last year. March 6, is the deadline for gatekeepers to submit their compliance plans. Read about it in the latest PlatformPapers blog. platformpapers.substack.com/p/6-march-is...
05.03.2024 08:49
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Winner takes all? Blockbustersβ effect on competition in platforms
Evidence from crowdfunding
How does the entry of blockbusters on a platform affect the other offerings on the platform? In the latest #PlatformPapers blog, Zhiyi Wang and Lusi Yang explore this question in the context of #Kicstarter's #crowdfunding platform. platformpapers.substack.com/p/winner-tak...
14.02.2024 10:28
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Home - Platform Papers
This website presents findings from a systematic and interdisciplinary review of the literature on platform competition by Joost Rietveld and Melissa Schilling. Interest in platform competition has gr...
Once a month, I invite scholars to contribute a blogpost based on research included in the #platformpapers references database. You can subscribe to the blog on S*bsta*ck or read it at platformpapers.com. Please share to spread the word about platform competition research!
30.01.2024 12:51
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