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Chapter 28 - Digital Platforms and (Im)Perfect Market Futures

from Part VII - Future (Im)Perfect Markets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2024

By
Gianluca Chimenti ,
Johan Hagberg  and
Luis Araujo
Edited by
Susi Geiger ,
Katy Mason ,
Neil Pollock ,
Philip Roscoe ,
Annmarie Ryan ,
Stefan Schwarzkopf  and
Pascale Trompette
Susi Geiger
Affiliation:
University College Dublin
Katy Mason
Affiliation:
Lancaster University
Neil Pollock
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
Philip Roscoe
Affiliation:
University of St Andrews, Scotland
Annmarie Ryan
Affiliation:
University of Limerick
Stefan Schwarzkopf
Affiliation:
Copenhagen Business School
Pascale Trompette
Affiliation:
Université de Grenoble
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Summary

The purpose of this chapter is to speculatively explore the future of digital platforms and how they transform the nature of many conventional markets. Digital platforms create novel connections between actors in multi-sided markets, whilst generating and capitalizing on vast amounts of data. Platforms are thus not just match but market-makers, exercising asymmetric power over their multi-sided users whilst framing the institutional and regulatory environment in which they operate. However, platforms are also the outcome of the market shaping activities enrolling a variety of actors, and may involve multiple economization modes (e.g., market, gift giving). The chapter draws upon examples of retail digital platforms to develop a conceptual discussion of the role of platforms in the contemporary economy and considers their implications for the future of markets and market-making. The dual purpose of this chapter is to examine what the rise of digital platforms means for Market Studies and what a Market Studies perspective brings to the study of platforms. We propose and discuss three specific themes at the intersection of Market Studies and digital platforms.

Type
Chapter
Information
Market Studies
Mapping, Theorizing and Impacting Market Action
 , pp. 459 - 472
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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