Platform economy

The platform economy is economic and social activity facilitated by platforms. Such platforms are typically online matchmakers
or technology frameworks. By far the most common type are "transaction platforms", also known as "digital matchmakers".
Examples of transaction platforms include Amazon, Airbnb, Uber and Baidu. A second type is the "innovation platform", which
provides a common technology framework upon which others can build, such as the many independent developers who work on
Microsoft's platform.

Forerunners to contemporary digital economic platforms can be found throughout history, especially in the second half of the
20th century. Yet it was only in the year 2000 that the "platform" metaphor started to be widely used to describe digital
matchmakers and innovation platforms. Especially after the financial crises of 2008, companies operating with the new "platform
business model" have swiftly came to control an increasing share of the world's overall economic activity, sometimes by
disrupting traditional business. Examples include the decline of BlackBerry and Nokia due to competition from platform
companies, the closing down of Blockbuster due to competition from the Netflix platform, or the many other brick and mortar
retailers that have closed in part due to competition from Amazon and other online retailers. Platform expert David S. Evans
wrote that in 2015, three of the top five companies in the world used the platform business model, as did seven of the ten top start
up companies. Traditional businesses need not always be harmed by platforms however; they can even benefit by creating their
own or making use of existing third party platforms. According to a 2016 survey by Accenture "81% of executives say platform-
based business models will be core to their growth strategy within three years." In the year 2000 there were only a handful of
large firms that could be described as platform companies. As of 2016, there were over 170 platform companies valued at US$1
billion or more. The creation and usage of digital platforms is also increasing in the government and NGO sectors.

The rise of platforms has been met by a mixed response from commentators. Many have been enthusiastic, arguing that platforms
can improve productivity, reduce costs, reduce inefficiencies in existing markets, help create entirely new markets, provide
flexibility and accessibility for workers, and be especially helpful for less developed countries. Arguments against platforms
include that they may worsen technological unemployment, that they contribute to the replacement of traditional jobs with
precarious forms of employment that have much less labour protection, that they can worsen declining tax revenues, and that
excessive use of platforms can be psychologically damaging and corrosive to communities. Since the early 2010s, the platform
economy has been the subject of many reviews by academic groups and NGOs, by national governments and by trans national
organisations like the EU. Early reviews were generally against the imposition of heavy regulation for the platform economy.
Since 2016, and especially in 2017, some jurisdictions began to take a more interventionist approach.

Contents
Platform definition
The platform economy
Relationship with similar digital economy terms
Public Platform Stocks
Digital economy
On-demand economy
Sharing economy
Gig economy

History
Pre Internet era
Post Internet
 Scholarship and etymology
The platform business model
Creating a digital platform
Technical functionality
Network effects
Ecosystems
Typology
Transaction platforms
Innovation platforms
Integrated platforms
Global distribution, international development and geostrategy
Africa
Asia
Europe
North America
South America Platform Economy Visualization

Platforms by ownership
Private sector
Public sector
NGO
Platform cooperatism
Assessment
Post 2017 backlash
Regulation
See also
Notes
Citations
References

Platform definition
The 'platform' metaphor has long been used in a variety of ways. In the context of platform economy, 21st century usage of the
word platform sometimes refers solely to online matchmakers – such as Uber, Airbnb, TaskRabbit etc. Academic work and some
business books often use the term in a wider sense, to include non-digital matchmakers like a business park or a nightclub, and
also to other entities whose function is not primarily to support transactions. Platforms scholars Professor Carliss Y. Baldwin and
Dr C. Jason Woodard have offered a generalised definition of economic platforms where the focus was on the technical side of
the platform: "a set of stable components that support variety and evolvability in a system by constraining the linkages among the
other components".[1] Woodard and Baldwin have stated that at a high level of abstraction, the architecture of all platforms is the
same: a system partitioned into a set of core components with low variety and a complementary set of peripheral components
with high variety.[1] Others define it based on the ecosystem perspective where the focus was on the actors around the platform
ecosystem (e.g., buyers, sellers). For more discussion of definitions, see the paper Digital Platforms: A Review and Future
Directions [2]

The platform economy

Also known as the digital platform or online platform economy, the platform economy is economic and social activity facilitated
by platforms. Such activity is wider than just commercial transactions, including for example online collaboration on projects
such as Wikipedia. While scholarship on platforms sometimes includes discussion of non digital platforms, the term "platform
economy" is often used in a sense that encompasses only online platforms.

Relationship with similar digital economy terms

"Platform economy" is one of a number of terms aiming to capture subsets of the overall economy which are now mediated by
digital technology. The terms are used with diverse and sometimes overlapping meanings; some commentators use terms like
"sharing economy" or "access economy" in such a broad sense they effectively mean the same thing. Other scholars and
commentators do attempt to draw distinctions and use the various terms to delineate different parts of the wider digital economy.
The term "platform economy" can be viewed as narrower in scope than "digital economy", but wider in scope than terms like "on
demand economy", "sharing economy" or "gig economy". Several scholars have argued that "platform economy" is the preferable
term for discussing several aspects of emergent digital phenomena in the early 21st century.[3] [4] [5] [6]

Public Platform Stocks

WisdomTree launched PLAT, the world’s first platform business ETF, in May 2019.[7] PLAT is composed of all global platform
stocks with a market capitalization of over $2 billion. At launch, there were 70 public platform stocks included in the ETF.

Digital economy
The term Digital economy generally refers to all or nearly all economic activity relying on computers. As such it can be seen as
having the widest scope; encompassing the platform economy, and also digital activities not mediated by actual platforms. For
example, economic transactions completed solely by email, or exchanges over EDIs, some of which operate between only two
companies so are too closed off to be considered platforms. Some scholars draw a distinction between platforms and earlier
websites, excluding even sites such as Craigslist that are used to support economic transactions. Such sites can be considered
outside the platform economy, not because they are too closed off, but as they are too open to be classed as platforms.[8][9]

On-demand economy
The terms "On-demand" or access economy are sometimes used in a broad sense, to include all activity from transaction
platforms, and much else. Some commentators however assign the access economy a narrower definition, so that it excludes
platforms in the sharing economy. Even when sharing and on-demand platforms are distinguished in this way however, they are
still both included in the wider "platform economy".[10]

Sharing economy
The term sharing economy is also used with a wide range of scopes. Due to the positive connotations of the word "sharing",
several platforms that don't involve sharing in the traditional sense of the word have still liked to define themselves as part of the
sharing economy. Yet academic and some popular commentators define the sharing economy as only including activity that
involves peer to peer transactions; in these narrow definition most of the platform economy is outside of the sharing
economy.[10][11] [12] [13]

Gig economy
The Gig economy refers to various forms of temporary work. The phrase is sometimes used with a broad scope, to include
traditional offline temporary and contract work; in that sense, parts of the gig economy are outside the platform economy. In the
narrow sense of the phrase, the gig economy refers solely to work mediated by online labour market platforms, for example
PeoplePerHour. In this narrow sense, an important sub division is between local and remote gig work. Local gigs require the
worker to be present in person – as is the case for Uber or most TaskRabbit work. For remote work, also known as the "human
cloud", tasks can be done anywhere in the world, as is generally the case with Mechanical Turk or the upwork platform. A 2017
study estimated that worldwide, about 70 million people have registered on the remote labour platforms.[14][9][15][16][6]

History

Pre Internet era

Businesses operating on some of the principles underpinning contemporary digital platforms have been in operation for millennia.
For example, matchmakers who helped men and women find suitable marriage partners operated in China since at least 1100
BC.[17] Grain exchanges from ancient Greece have been compared to contemporary transactional platforms, as have medieval
fairs.[17][18] [19] Examples of innovation platforms also predate the internet era. Such as geographic regions famous for particular
types of production, institutions like Harvard Business School, or the Wintel technology platform that became prominent in the
1980s.[20][21]

Post Internet
The viability of large scale transaction platforms was vastly increased due to improvements in communication and connectedness
brought about by the Internet.[22] Online market platforms such as Craigslist[note 1] and eBay were launched in the 1990s.
Forerunners to modern social media and online collaboration platforms were also launched in the 1990s, [note 2] with more
successful platforms such as Myspace and Wikipedia emerging in the early 2000s. After the financial crisis of 2007–08, new
types of online platforms have risen to prominence, including asset-sharing platforms such as Airbnb, and labour market
platforms such as TaskRabbit.

Scholarship and etymology

According to the OED, the word "platform" has been used since the 16th century, both in the concrete sense to refer to a raised
surface, and as a metaphor. However it was only in the 1990s that the concept of economic platforms began to receive significant
attention from academics. In the early 90s, such work tended to focus on innovation or product platforms, defined in a broad
sense that did not focus on online activity. Even as late as 1998, there was little focus on transaction platforms, and according to
professors David S. Evans and Richard L. Schmalensee, the platform business model as it would be understood in the 21st
century was not then recognised by scholars.[23][20][24]

The first academic paper to address the platform business model and its application to digital matchmakers is said to be Platform
Competition in Two-Sided Markets by Jean-Charles Rochet and Jean Tirole. [note 3][25] An early management research book on
platforms was Platform Leadership: How Intel, Microsoft and Cisco Drive Industry Innovation,[26] by Annabelle Gawer[27] and
Michael Cusumano[28] (published in 2002).[29] One of the academics most responsible for connecting those working in the
emerging field of platform scholarship was professor Annabelle Gawer; in 2008 she held the first international conference on
platforms at London.[30]

The platform business model

The platform business model involves profiting from a platform that allows two or more groups of users to interact. The model
predates the internet; for example, a newspapers with a classified ads section effectively uses the platform business model. The
emergence of digital technology has "turbocharged" the model,[31] although it is by no means a sure path to success. While the
most successful "born-social" firms can in just a few years achieve multibillion-dollar valuations, along with brand loyalty
comparable to the largest traditional companies, most platform business start ups fail.[32][33] [34]

Some companies are dedicated to the platform business model; for example, many so called born-social startups. Other
companies can operate their own platform(s) yet still run much of their business on more traditional models. A third set of firms
may not run their own platform, but still have a platform strategy for utilising third party platforms. According to a 2016 survey
by Accenture, "81% of executives say platform-based business models will be core to their growth strategy within three years."
[35][33]

Some of the principles governing the operations of matchmaking platforms differ sharply when compared with traditional
business models. The selling of products or services is central to most traditional businesses, whereas for transaction platforms,
connecting different groups of users is the key focus. For example, a traditional mini cab company sells taxi services, whereas a
platform company might connect drivers with passengers.[36] Another distinguishing feature of the platform business model is
that it emphasises network effects, and the inter-dependence of demand between the different groups that use the platform. So
with a platform business, it often makes sense to provide services free to one side of the platform, e.g. to the users of a social
media service like Facebook. The cost of this subsidy is more than offset by the extra demand a large user base generates for the
revenue generating side(s) of the platform (e.g. advertisers).[37]

According to authors Alex Moazed and Nicholas L. Johnson, BlackBerry Limited (formerly RIM) and Nokia lost massive market
share to Apple and Google's Android in the early 2010s, as RIM and Nokia were acting as product companies in a world now best
suited to platforms. As former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop wrote in 2011 "We’re not even fighting with the right weapons, ... The
battle of devices has now become a war of ecosystems."[38][39]

Creating a digital platform

Many books covering the platform economy devote chapters to the challenges involved in creating platforms: both for new
platform startups, and for traditional organisations wishing to adopt a platform strategy. Some books are even dedicated just to
certain aspects of operating a platform, such as nurturing ecosystems.[40] The work involved in creating a platform can be
broadly divided into elements relating to technical functionality and network effects; for many but not all platforms, a great deal
of effort also needs to go into the cultivation of ecosystems.[41]

Technical functionality
Developing the core technical functionality can sometimes be unexpectedly cheap. Courtney Boyd Myers wrote in 2013 that a
platform with the core functionality of Twitter could be developed almost for free. A person who already had a laptop could take
a $160 Ruby on Rails course, spend about 10 hours writing the code, and then host the Twitter clone on a free Web hosting
service. A service that would have a chance of attracting a good user base however, would need to be developed to at least the
level of being a Minimum viable product (MVP). An MVP requires development well beyond a core set of technical
functionality, for example it needs to have a well polished user experience layer. Boyd Meyers reported estimates that to develop
a MVP for a platform like Twitter, the cost could range from $50,000 to $250,000, whereas for a platform needing more complex
functionality such as Uber, the cost could range from $1 to $1.5 million.[41] This was in 2013, considerably more has since been
spent on technical development for the Uber platform. For other platforms however, developing the needed technical
functionality can be relatively easy. The more difficult task is to attract a large enough user base to ensure long term growth, in
other words to create sufficient network effects.[42][41]

Network effects
Platforms tend to be a strong beneficiary of network effects; phenomena which can act to increase the value of a platform to all
participants as more people join. Sometimes it makes sense for a platform to treat different sides of their network differently. For
example, a trading platform relies on both buyers and sellers, and if there is say a shortage of buyers compared to the number of
sellers, it might make sense for the platform operator to subsidize buyers, at least temporarily. Perhaps with free access or even
with rewards for choosing to use the platform. Sometimes the benefits of network effects can be overestimated, such as with the
so-called "grab all the eyeballs fallacy", where a large audience is attracted to a platform, but there proves to be no profitable way
to monetise it.[43][44]

Ecosystems
In the context of digital platforms, ecosystems are collections of economic actors not controlled by the platform owner, yet who
add value in ways that go beyond being a regular user. A common example is the community of independent developers who
create applications for a platform, such as the many developers (both individuals and companies) that create apps for Facebook.
With Microsoft, significant components of their ecosystem include not just developers, but computer and hardware peripheral
manufactures, as well as maintenance and training providers.[45] A traditional company embarking on a platform strategy has a
head start in creating an ecosystem if they already have a list of partners, alliances and / or resellers. A startup company looking
to grow an ecosystem might expose elements of its platform via publicly available APIs. Another approach is to have an easily
accessible partnership sign up facility, with the offer of free or subsidised benefits for partners.[46]

Platform owners usually attempt to promote and support all significant actors in their ecosystems, though sometimes there is a
competitive relationship between the owner and some of the companies in their ecosystem, very occasionally even a hostile
one.[47][33][46][48]

Typology
Scholars have acknowledged platforms are challenging to categorise, due to their variety.[3] A relatively common approach is to
divide platforms into four types, based on the principle ways they add utility, rather than being concerned with which particular
sectors they server. These four types are transaction, innovation, integrated and investment.[49] Other ways to categorize digital
platforms are discussed in Digital Platforms: A Review and Future Directions [2]

Transaction platforms
Also known as two-sided markets, multisided markets, or digital match making firms, transaction platforms are by far the most
common type of platform. These platforms often facilitate various forms of online buying and selling, though sometimes most or
all transactions supported by the platform will be free of charge.[49]

Innovation platforms
Innovation platforms provide a technological foundation, often including a set of common standards, upon which an ecosystem of
third parties can develop complementary products and services to resell to consumers and other businesses. Examples of platform
companies include Microsoft and Intel.[49] Innovation platforms often stimulate ecosystem innovation.[50]

Integrated platforms
Integrated platforms combine features of both transaction and innovation platforms. Apple, Google and Alibaba have been
classified as integrated platforms. Several integrated platform companies operating multiple discreet platforms and could also be
described as "platform conglomerates",[49] while some others are more integrated and derive synergies from combining
innovation and transaction platforms.[51]
Global distribution, international development and geostrategy
Platforms are sometimes studied through the lens of their differing distributions and impact across the world's geographic regions.
Some early work speculated that the rise of the platform economy could be a new means by which the United States could
maintain its hegemony. While the largest platform companies by market capitalisation remain US based, platforms based in India
and Asia are fast catching up, and several authors writing in 2016 and later took the opposite view, speculating that the platform
economy will help accelerate a shift of economic power towards Asia.[52] [53] [54]

Africa
Numerous successful platforms have been launched in Africa, several of which
have been home grown. In the early 2010s, there were reports by journalist,
academics and development workers that Africa has been leading the world in
some platform related technologies, such as by "leapfrogging" traditional fixed
line internet applications and going straight to developing mobile apps. In the
field of mobile money for example, it was the success of Kenya's M-Pesa that
brought the technology to global attention. [note 4][55][56][57][58]

Similar systems have been introduced elsewhere in Africa, for example m-Sente An M-Pesa Agent in Tanzania. The
M-Pesa platform provides a form of
in Uganda. M-Pesa itself has expanded out of Africa to both Asia and Eastern
Financial inclusion for people without
Europe. The system allows people who only have cheap SMS capable mobile
bank accounts. They can send and
phones to send and receive money. This and similar platform services have been receive credit on cheap SMS mobile
enthusiastically welcomed both by the end users, and by development workers phones, then exchange the credit for
who have noted their life enhancing effects. Ushahidi is another set of cash or goods at numerous shops
technologies developed in Africa and widely used on platforms to deliver and kiosks, which are far more
common than bank branches in
various social benefits. While many platforms in Africa are accessible just by
much of Africa.
SMS, uptake of smartphones is also high, with the FT reporting in 2015 that
mobile internet adoption is happening at double the global rate.[57] Compared to
other regions, there may have been less negative effects caused by platforms in Africa, as there has been less legacy economic
infrastructure to disrupt, which also has provided an opportunity to build new systems from "ground zero".[55] Though some
legacy businesses have still been disrupted by the rise of platforms in Africa, with sometimes only the more productive firms
being able to overcome barriers to adopting digital technologies.[56][59]

By 2017, some of the excitement concerning home grown platform technology and the wider Africa Rising narrative has cooled,
in line with recent falls in commodity prices reducing the short term economic prospects for much of the continent. Yet optimism
remains that the continent is heading in the right direction. A global survey identified 176 platform companies with a valuation
over one billion dollars, yet only one was based in Africa. This was Naspers, which is headquartered in Cape Town, a city that
also hosts many other smaller platform companies. A survey focused on smaller platforms based in Africa found few are either
wholly foreign or indigenously owned, with most being a mixture.[60][61][49] [62]

Asia
The 2016 global survey found that Asia was home to the largest number of platform companies having a market capitalisation
over $1bn. Asia had 82 such companies,[note 5] though their combined market value was only $719, second to the United States.
Much of Asia's platform companies are concentrated in hubs located in Bangalore and Hangzhou.[49] Within China, home grown
platforms tend to dominate across the whole platform economy, with most of the big American platforms being banned. eBay is
allowed to trade in China, but has a relatively small market share compared to Chinese eCommerce platforms. Outside of China,
Asian-based platforms have been enjoying rapid growth in areas relating to eCommerce, but not so much in social media and
search. Facebook for example is the most popular social media platform even in India, a country with several large home grown
platforms, while in Myanmar, the New York Times described Facebook as "so dominant that to many people it is the internet
itself."[63]

Europe
Europe is home to a large number of platform companies, but most are quite small. In terms of platform companies that were
valued over $1bn, Europe was found to have only 27 in the 2016 global survey. So far ahead of Africa and South America, but
lagging well behind Asia and North America.[49]

North America
North America, in particular the United States, is home to the world's top 5
global platform companies – Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and IBM. A
2016 global survey of all platform companies with a market cap over $1bn,
found 44 such companies headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area alone,
with those companies having a total value of $2.2 trillion – 52% of the total
worldwide value of such platform companies. Overall, the United States had 63
platform companies valued over $1bn, with Canada having one. While North
America has less large platform companies than Asia, it is the clear leader in Market capitalisation of platform
companies grouped by region, based
terms of overall market capitalisation, and in having platform companies with a
on 2015 data from the United
global reach.[49]
Nations. The global tech landscape
changes rapidly, and all comparative
data here should be regarded as a
South America historical snapshot.[64]
According to data from early 2016, only three home grown platform companies
with a market capitalisation greater than $1bn had emerged in South America:
these are MercadoLibre, Despegar.com and B2W.[64] The continent is however home to many start up companies. In Brazil, the
Portuguese language gives an advantage to home grown companies, with an especially active start up scene existing in São Paolo.
Argentina has been the most successful in creating platforms used outside its own borders, with the countries relatively small
home market encouraging a more global outlook from its start up platform companies.[65][66][64]

With a high proportion of workers already employed on an informal bases, the platform based gig economy has not grown as fast
in South America as elsewhere. Though from a progressive perspective, scholars such as Adam Fishwick have noted that Latin
America's tradition of worker organised activism may have valuable lessons for workers elsewhere seeking ways to mitigate the
sometimes adverse effects of platforms on their economic security.[67]

Platforms by ownership

Private sector
Most of the widely used platforms are owned by the private sector. In the 2016 GCE survey of platform companies valued over
$1 billion, a total of 107 privately owned companies were found, versus 69 public companies (public in the sense of being private
sector, but publicly traded ). While more numerous, the privately owned companies tended to be smaller, having a total market
value of $300 billion, compared to $3,900 billion for the publicly traded companies.[49]

Public sector
Some digital platforms are run by multilateral institutions, by national governments, and by local municipal bodies.[68][59]

NGO
Over 90% of NGOs maintain a presence on the large privately owned social media platforms such as Facebook, with some also
operating their own platforms.[69]

Platform cooperatism
Platform cooperatism involves mutually owned platforms, being run "bottom up" by the people involved. Sometimes these
platforms can effectively be competing for business with the privately owned platforms. In other cases, platform cooperatism
seeks to help ordinary people have their say about political questions of the day, possibly supporting interaction with local
government.[70][71]

Assessment
With the increasingly centrality of digital platforms to the global economy
following the 2008 financial crisis, there was an intensification of interest in
assessing their impact on society and the wider economy. Many hundreds of
reviews have been carried out: some by individual scholars, others by groups of
academics, some by think tanks bringing together folk from a range of
backgrounds, and yet others overseen by governments and trans national
organisations such as the EU. Many of these reviews focussed on the overall
platform economy, others on narrower areas such as the gig economy or the
psychological impact of social media platforms on individuals and
communities.[3]

Much early assessment was highly positive, sometimes even taking a "utopian"
view on the benefits of platforms.[3] It's been argued and to some extent
demonstrated that platforms can enhance the supply of services, improve
productivity, reduce costs, reduce inefficiencies in existing markets, help create
entirely new markets, increase flexibility and labour market accessibility for
workers, and be especially helpful for less developed countries. Both the IMF
and World Bank for example have suggested that it's the countries and industries Francesca Bria, an early critic of the
that are quickest to adopt new platform technologies that achieve the fastest and large privately owned platforms, a
most sustainable growth,[74] [3] [59][75] [76] proponent of platform cooperatism,
and as of 2018, CTO for the city of
Various arguments have been made against platforms. They include that Barcelona.[72] [71] [73]
platforms may contribute to technological unemployment. That they accelerate
the replacement of traditional jobs with precarious forms of employment that
have much less labour protection. That they may contribute to declining tax revenues. That excessive use of platforms can be
psychologically damaging and corrosive to communities. That they can increase inequality. That they can reproduce patterns of
racism. That platforms have a net negative impact on the environment.[72][3][77][78]

Post 2017 backlash

Until 2017, most mainstream assessments of the platform economy were largely positive about its benefits to wider society. There
were some exceptions, a general hardening of attitudes towards platforms from some commentators and regulators had been
detectable from at least early 2015.[79] There had been a few highly critical views, e.g. from Evgeny Morozov, who in 2015
described most platforms as "parasitic: feeding off existing social and economic relations".[36] Yet such negative assessments
were rare, especially from prominent commentators who had the attention of policy makers. This began to change in 2017.
Across the world, the larger privately owned platforms were subject to increasing questioning about their expanding role and
responsibilities.[63][75][80]

In the US, the Financial Times reported a marked change of attitudes towards online platforms across the American political
spectrum, triggered by their "sheer size and power".[81] Among U.S. Democrats, leaders of the large platform companies
reportedly went from "heroes to pariahs" in just a few months.[82] There has also been growing hostility towards the large
platform companies from some members of the American right. High-profile figures such as Steve Bannon and Richard Spencer
have argued for the break up of the large tech companies, and more mainstream Republicans were reported to be running for the
2018 congressional elections on anti big-tech tickets.[83] [84]

2017 also saw increased critical attention towards the larger platforms from both European and Chinese regulators. In the case of
China where several of the larger US owned platforms were already banned, the focus was on their biggest home grown
platforms, with commentators expressing concerns that they have become too powerful.[85][86]

Much recent criticism focusses on major platforms being too big; too powerful; anti competitive; damaging to democracy, such as
with the Russian meddling in the 2016 election; and bad for users mental health. In December 2017 Facebook itself admitted
passive consumption of social media could be harmful to mental health, though said active engagement can be helpful. In January
2018 Facebook made major changes to increase user engagement. In February 2018, Unilever, one of the world's leading
spenders on advertising, threatened to pull adverts from digital platforms if they "create division, foster hate or fail to protect
children." [87][84][83][88] [89] [90]

Despite recent criticism from media figures and politicians, the large privately owned platforms tend to remain "wildly popular"
among ordinary consumers.[84][82][75] After leading US platform companies revealed high Q1 revenue growth in late April 2018,
the Financial Times reported they are untouched by the backlash, in a "stunning demonstration of their platform power".[91]
While conceding there are risks, many commentators and institutions remain overall highly positive about the potential of
platforms for empowering ordinary people to improve their lives and benefit society.[92][59]

Regulation
During their early years, digital platforms tended to enjoy light regulation, sometimes benefiting from measures intended to help
fledgling internet companies. The "inherently border-crossing" nature of platforms has made it challenging to regulate them, even
when a desire has been there.[33] Yet another difficulty has been lack of consensus about what exactly constitutes the platform
economy.[93] With most large platforms concentrated in China or the U.S., two contrasting approaches to regulation. In the U.S.,
platforms have largely been left to develop free of state regulation. In China, while large platform companies like Tencent or
Baidu are privately owned and in theory have much more freedom than SOEs, they are still tightly controlled, and also protected
by the state against foreign competition, at least in their home market.[94][33]

As of 2017, there has been talk of a "third way" being developed in Europe, less Laissez-faire than the approach in the U.S., but
less restrictive than the approach in China. Possibilities for Co-regulation, where public regulators and the platform companies
themselves cooperative to design and enforce regulation, are also being explored.[95] [93] [33] In March 2018, the EU published
guidelines concerning the removal of illegal media from social media platforms, suggesting that if platform companies do not
improve their self-regulation, new rules will come into effect at EU level before the end of the year.[96][97] New and existing
labour unions have began to become increasingly involved in representing workers engaged in the labour market section of the
platform economy. With remote platform work having created what is in effect a planetary labour market, an attempt to
encourage suitable working conditions on a global scale is being undertook by the Fairwork foundation. Fairwork are seeking to
move towards mutually agreeable conditions with the co-operation of platform owners, workers, unions and governments.[98]

See also
Circular economy
Digital ecosystem
Platform evangelism
Two-sided market
Uberisation

Notes
1. Some commentators on the platform economy draw a distinction between "web 1.0" sites such as Craigslist and
modern platforms, but generally Craigslist is included as a platform.
2. For example Friends Reunited or Nupedia
3. While not published until 2003, the paper began circulating among academics in 2000. More recent academic
work on platforms typically calls them 'multi-sided' rather than two sided, as some platforms have more than two
distinct groups of users. See Evans(2016), Chap1.
4. It was Smart Communications that achieved the first launch of a formal mobile money system, which occurred in
the Philippines in 2001, about 6 years before the launch of M-Pesa. But it wasn't until the success of mobile
money in Africa that the technology received widespread global attention. There are unconfirmed reports that
Africans invented mobile money independently, without knowing about the Philippines system.
5. 64 were in China, 8 in India and 5 in Japan. The other 5 Asian platforms were split across Australia, Malaysia,
Singapore and South Korea.

Citations
1. Gawer 2010, Chpt. 2
2. Asadullah, Ahmad; Faik, Isam; Kankanhalli, Atreyi (2018). "Digital Platforms: A Review and Future Directions" (ht
tps://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2018/248/). PACIS Proceedings.
3. Martin Kenney, John Zysman (19 June 2015). "Choosing a Future in the Platform Economy:The Implications and
Consequences of Digital Platforms" (https://web.archive.org/web/20180704124615/http://www.brie.berkeley.edu/
wp-content/uploads/2015/02/PlatformEconomy2DistributeJune21.pdf) (PDF). UC Berkeley. Retrieved 1 August
2019.
4. Joss Hands (2013). "Introduction: Politics, Power and 'Platformativity' " (https://disruptivemedia.org.uk/platform-po
litics-new-issue-of-culture-machine/). Culture Machine. 14: 1–9. "Platform’ is a useful term because it is a broad
enough category to capture a number of distinct phenomena, such as social networking, the shift from desktop to
tablet computing, smart phone and ‘app’-based interfaces as well as the increasing dominance of centralised
cloud-based computing. The term is also specific enough to indicate the capturing of digital life in an enclosed,
commercialized and managed realm."
5. Adam Chandler (27 May 2016). "What Should the 'Sharing Economy' Really Be Called?" (https://www.theatlantic.
com/business/archive/2016/05/sharing-economy-airbnb-uber-yada/484505/). The Atlantic. Retrieved 15 March
2018.
6. Martin Kenney, John Zysman (Spring 2016). "The Rise of the Platform Economy" (http://issues.org/32-3/the-rise-
of-the-platform-economy/). Issues in Science and Technology. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
7. {{cite web |url= https://www.wisdomtree.com/etfs/equity/plat |title= WisdomTree Modern Tech Platform Fund
|publisher= WisdomTree |date= May 2019
 8. Chris Anderson (writer) and Michael Wolf (17 August 2010). "The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet" (https://w
ww.wired.com/2010/08/ff-webrip/). Wired. 18 (9). Retrieved 15 March 2018.
9. Gideon Lichfield (12 November 2016). "All the names for the new digital economy, and why none of them fits" (htt
p://qz.com/548137/all-the-names-for-the-new-digital-economy-and-why-none-of-them-fits/). Quartz (publication).
Retrieved 15 March 2018.
10. Koen Frenken, Juliet Schor (13 January 2017). "Putting the sharing economy into perspective". Environmental
Innovation and Societal Transitions. 23: 3–10. doi:10.1016/j.eist.2017.01.003 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.eist.20
17.01.003).
11. Benita Matofska (2016-08-01). "What is the Sharing Economy?" (http://www.thepeoplewhoshare.com/blog/what-i
s-the-sharing-economy/). The people who share. Retrieved 15 March 2018. "A Sharing Economy enables
different forms of value exchange and is a hybrid economy. It encompasses the following aspects: swapping,
exchanging, collective purchasing, collaborative consumption, shared ownership, shared value, co-operatives,
co-creation, recycling, upcycling, re-distribution, trading used goods, renting, borrowing, lending, subscription
based models, peer-to-peer, collaborative economy, circular economy, on-demand economy, gig economy, crowd
economy, pay-as-you-use economy, wikinomics, peer-to-peer lending, micro financing, micro-entrepreneurship,
social media, the Mesh, social enterprise, futurology, crowdfunding, crowdsourcing, cradle-to-cradle, open
source, open data, user generated content (UGC) and public services."
12. Pierre Goudin (January 2016). "The Cost of Non-Europe in the Sharing Economy" (http://www.europarl.europa.e
u/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/558777/EPRS_STU(2016)558777_EN.pdf) (PDF). EPRS : European
Parliamentary Research Service. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
13. Rudy Telles Jr (June 3, 2016). "Digital Matching Firms: A New Definition in the "Sharing Economy" Space" (http://
www.esa.gov/sites/default/files/digital-matching-firms-new-definition-sharing-economy-space.pdf) (PDF). United
States Department of Commerce. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
14. Wood, A. J., Graham, M., Lehdonvirta, V., & Hjorth, I. (8 August 2018). "Good Gig, Bad Gig: Autonomy and
Algorithmic Control in the Global Gig Economy" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6380453). Work,
Employment and Society. 33: 56–75. doi:10.1177/0950017018785616 (https://doi.org/10.1177%2F09500170187
85616). PMC 6380453 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6380453).
15. Sarah O'Connor (14 June 2016). "The gig economy is neither 'sharing' nor 'collaborative' " (https://www.ft.com/cm
s/s/0/8273edfe-2c9f-11e6-a18d-a96ab29e3c95.html) ((registration required)). Financial Times. Retrieved
15 March 2018.
16. Willem Pieter De Groen and Ilaria Maselli (June 2016). "The Impact of the Collaborative Economy on the Labour
Market" (https://www.ceps.eu/system/files/SR138CollaborativeEconomy_0.pdf) (PDF). CEPS. Retrieved
15 March 2018.
17. Evans 2016, Chpt. 1, pp 12-13
18. Gillian Tett (15 June 2016). "Review – The Inner Lives of Markets" (https://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4509ef0c-2f44-11
e6-bf8d-26294ad519fc.html) ((registration required)). Financial Times. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
19. Ray Fisman Tim Sullivan (24 March 2016). "Africa's top 10 tech pioneers: 'We have become an internet-
consuming culture' " (https://hbr.org/2016/03/everything-we-know-about-platforms-we-learned-from-medieval-fran
ce). Harvard Business Review. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
20. Gawer 2010, Chpt. 8
21. Irving Wladawsky-Berge (15 Feb 2016). "The Rise of the Platform Economy" (http://www.pieria.co.uk/articles/the
_rise_of_the_platform_economy). Pieria. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
22. Evans 2016, Chpt. 1, pp. 19, 20
23. Evans 2016, pp. 14, 15; Chpt 1
24. Gawer 2010, pp. 20-23; Chpt. 2
25. Jean-Charles Rochet; Jean Tirole (2003). "Platform Competition in Two-Sided Markets". Journal of the European
Economic Association. 1 (4): 990–1029. doi:10.1162/154247603322493212 (https://doi.org/10.1162%2F1542476
03322493212).
26. Gawer, Annabelle; Cusumano, Michael (2002). "Platform Leadership: How Intel, Microsoft, and Cisco Drive
Industry Innovation" (https://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/platform-leadership-how-intel-microsoft-and-cisco-drive-indus
try-innovation-do-you-have-platform-leadership). Harvard Business School Press.
27. "Professor Annabelle Gawer, University of Surrey" (https://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/annabelle-gawer).
28. Cusumano, Michael. "Professor Cusumano" (https://mitsloan.mit.edu/faculty/directory/michael-a-cusumano).
29. Gawer, Annabelle & Cusumano, Michael (2002). Platform Leadership: How Intel, Microsoft, and Cisco Drive
Industry Innovation. Harvard Business School Press.
30. Gawer 2010, Chpt. 1, p.8
31. Evans 2016, p. 3
32. Evans 2016, Introduction
33. Stefan Baldi (29 March 2017). "Regulation in the Platform Economy: Do We Need a Third Path?" (http://www.mu
nich-business-school.de/insights/en/2017/regulation-platform-economy/). Munich Business School. Retrieved
15 March 2018.
34. Haydn Shaughnessy (2015). "Introduction". Shift: A Leader's Guide to the Platform Economy. Tru Publishing.
ISBN 978-1941420034.
35. "Platform economy" (https://www.accenture.com/gb-en/insight-digital-platform-economy). Accenture. 2016.
Retrieved 15 March 2018.
36. Evgeny Morozov (1 June 2015). "Where Uber and Amazon rule: welcome to the world of the platform" (https://ww
w.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jun/07/facebook-uber-amazon-platform-economy). The Guardian. Retrieved
15 March 2018.
37. Evans 2016, Chpt 1 & 3; esp. pp.32-33
38. John Thornhill (2016-08-08). "Platform businesses may wipe out classic 20th century companies" (https://www.ft.
com/cms/s/0/67705108-580c-11e6-8d05-4eaa66292c32.html) ((registration required)). Financial Times.
Retrieved 15 March 2018.
39. Alex Moazed, Nicholas L. Johnson (2016). Modern Monopolies: What It Takes to Dominate the 21st Century
Economy. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1250091895.
40. Tiwana 2013, passim
41. Courtney Boyd Myers (2 December 2013). "How much does it cost to build the world's hottest startups?" (https://t
henextweb.com/dd/2013/12/02/much-cost-build-worlds-hottest-startups/). The Next Web. Retrieved 15 March
2018.
42. Evans 2016, Chp 2, Chpt 7, passim
43. Evans 2016, Chp 2, passim
44. Tiwana 2013, Chpt. 2
45. Evans 2016, Chp 7
46. Tiwana 2013, Chpt. 1, passim
47. "Sources: VMware Sets Sights On Startup VMTurbo As Cloud Management Battle Heats Up" (http://www.crn.co
m/news/cloud/300078670/sources-vmware-sets-sights-on-startup-vmturbo-as-cloud-management-battle-heats-u
p.htm). CRN.
48. Evans 2016, Chpt. 7
49. Peter C. Evans and Annabelle Gawer (January 2016). "The Rise of the Platform Enterprise" (https://www.thecge.
net/app/uploads/2016/01/PDF-WEB-Platform-Survey_01_12.pdf) (PDF). The Center for Global Enterprise.
Retrieved 15 March 2018.
50. Gawer, Annabelle; Cusumano, Michael A. (2014). "Industry Platforms and Ecosystem Innovation" (https://onlineli
brary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jpim.12105). Journal of Product Innovation Management. 31 (3): 417–433.
doi:10.1111/jpim.12105 (https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fjpim.12105). ISSN 1540-5885 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/
1540-5885).
51. Cusumano, Michael A.; Gawer, Annabelle; Yoffie, David B. (2019-05-07). The Business of Platforms by Michael
A. Cusumano, Annabelle Gawer, and David B. Yoffie (http://www.harpercollinsapps.com/book/9780062896322/T
he-Business-of-Platforms-Michael-A.-Cusumano-Annabelle-Gawer-and-David-B.-Yoffie/). ISBN 9780062896322.
52. Haydn Shaughnessy (2016). "passim Introduction". Platform Disruption Wave. Tru Publishing. "Geopolitics: The
wave is increasingly tied to a geopolitical transition, in this case from the US to China, and is often specific to its
own era, so we are now experiencing our wave of change, not the wave that swamped the world between 1973
and 2000. The current wave is driven by scale, or our new capacity for infinite endpoint management. Because
disruption now favors scale then it will favor China."
53. Nandita Manthur (5 October 2016). "TChina, India to dominate global digital platform economy: Accenture report"
(http://www.livemint.com/Industry/E8L0nrfphAQwU33BOYafGP/China-India-to-dominate-global-digital-platform-e
conomy-Ac.html). live mint. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
54. Dal Young Jin (2015). "Introduction, passim". Digital Platforms, Imperialism and Political Culture. Routledge.
ISBN 978-1138859562.
55. Siona Jenkins (17 July 2015). "Mobile technology widens its reach in Africa" (https://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/902d41
6a-169e-11e5-b07f-00144feabdc0.html) ((registration required)). Financial Times. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
56. JANINE ARON (June 2015). " 'Leapfrogging': a Survey of the Nature and Economic Implications of Mobile
Money" (http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/research-projects/mobile-money/mobile-survey-leapfrogging-
3.pdf) (PDF). Oxford Martin School. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
57. Danis O'Brien (13 July 2015). "Connectivity and technology in Africa – ahead of the global game?" (http://blogs.ft.
com/beyond-brics/2015/07/13/connectivity-and-technology-in-africa-ahead-of-the-global-game/) ((registration
required)). Financial Times. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
58. Killian Fox (24 July 2011). "Africa's mobile economic revolution" (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/j
ul/24/mobile-phones-africa-microfinance-farming). The Guardian. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
59. Deepak Mishra, Uwe Deichmann, Kenneth Chomitz, Zahid Hasnain, Emily Kayser, Tim Kelly, Märt Kivine,
Bradley Larson, Sebastian Monroy-Taborda, Hania Sahnoun, Indhira Santos, David Satola, Marc Schiffbauer,
Boo Kang Seol, Shawn Tan, and Desiree van Welsum. (2016). "World Development Report 2016: Digital
Dividends" (http://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2016). World Bank. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
60. Olayinka David-West and Peter C. Evans (January 2016). "The Rise of African Platforms" (http://thecge.net/wp-c
ontent/uploads/2016/04/AfricanPlatformSurveyFinal.pdf) (PDF). The Center for Global Enterprise. Retrieved
15 March 2018.
61. William Wallis (26 Jan 2016). "Smart Africa: Smartphones pave way for huge opportunities" (https://www.ft.com/c
ms/s/0/aba818a6-c392-11e5-808f-8231cd71622e.html) ((registration required)). Financial Times. Retrieved
15 March 2018.
62. Zoe Flood (25 July 2016). "Africa's top 10 tech pioneers: 'We have become an internet-consuming culture' " (http
s://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jul/25/africas-tech-pioneers-we-have-become-an-internet-consuming-cul
ture). The Guardian. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
63. MEGAN SPECIA and PAUL MOZUR (27 October 2017). "A War of Words Puts Facebook at the Center of
Myanmar's Rohingya Crisis" (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/world/asia/myanmar-government-facebook-ro
hingya.html). New York Times. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
64. "Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy" (http://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/40
745/4/S1601273_en.pdf) (PDF). United Nations. 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
65. Conrad Egusa and David Carter (19 Jan 2017). "Brazil: A look into Latin America's largest startup ecosystem" (ht
tps://techcrunch.com/2017/01/19/brazil-a-look-into-latin-americas-largest-startup-ecosystem/). United Nations.
Retrieved 15 March 2018.
66. Benedict Mander (19 September 2016). "Argentina: home to the majority of Latin America's tech unicorns" (http
s://www.ft.com/content/687f5a58-5807-11e6-9f70-badea1b336d4) ((registration required)). Financial Times.
Retrieved 15 March 2018.
67. Adam Fishwick (2 May 2017). "Organising against the gig economy: lessons from Latin America?" (https://www.o
pendemocracy.net/beyondslavery/adam-fishwick/organising-against-gig-economy-lessons-from-latin-america).
openDemocracy. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
68. Emma Cooper, Laura Webb, Gabriel Bellenger (2018). "Government-As-A-Platform" (https://www.accenture.com/
gb-en/insight-government-platform). Accenture. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
69. Nonprofit Tech for Good (2018). "2018 GLOBAL NGO Technology Report" (http://techreport.ngo/). Public Interest
Registry. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
70. Professor Trebor Scholz (2016). "PLATFORM COOPERATIVISM" (http://www.rosalux-nyc.org/wp-content/files_m
f/scholz_platformcoop_5.9.2016.pdf) (PDF). Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
71. Jonas Algers (November 2016). "Reflections on Platform Cooperativism" (http://www.perc.org.uk/project_posts/re
flections-on-platform-cooperativism/). Goldsmiths, University of London. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
72. Francesca Bria (February 2016). "The robot economy may already have arrived" (https://www.opendemocracy.ne
t/can-europe-make-it/francesca-bria/robot-economy-full-automation-work-future). openDemocracy. Retrieved
15 March 2018.
73. Ross Tieman (26 October 2017). "Barcelona: smart city revolution in progress" (https://www.ft.com/content/6d2fe
2a8-722c-11e7-93ff-99f383b09ff9) ((registration required)). Financial Times. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
74. Rana Foroohar (2 May 2017). "Gap between gig economy's winners and losers fuels populists" (https://www.ft.co
m/content/ba7b6762-1b9c-11e7-a266-12672483791a) ((registration required)). Financial Times. Retrieved
15 March 2018.
75. Moira Weigel (31 Oct 2017). "Coders of the world, unite: can Silicon Valley workers curb the power of Big Tech?"
(https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/oct/31/coders-of-the-world-unite-can-silicon-valley-workers-curb-the-po
wer-of-big-tech). The Guardian. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
76. "The importance of online platforms" (https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201516/ldselect/ldeucom/129/12905.
htm). Parliament of the United Kingdom. 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
77. Ursula Huws (December 2016). "CROWD WORK IN EUROPE" (http://researchprofiles.herts.ac.uk/portal/files/10
749125/crowd_work_in_europe_draft_report_last_version.pdf) (PDF). university of Hertfordshire. Retrieved
15 March 2016.
78. Juliet Schor (17 May 2018). "The platform economy" (http://www.brie.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/P
latformEconomy2DistributeJune21.pdf) (PDF). UC Berkeley. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
79. "Benefits of online platforms" (https://www.oxera.com/getmedia/84df70f3-8fe0-4ad1-b4ba-d235ee50cb30/The-be
nefits-of-online-platforms-main-findings-(October-2015).pdf.aspx?ext=.pdf) (PDF). Oxera Consulting. October
2015. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
80. Srnicek, Nick (2017). Platform capitalism (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/964878395). Cambridge, UK.
ISBN 9781509504862. OCLC 964878395 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/964878395).
81. David J. Lynch (30 October 2017). "Big Tech and Amazon: too powerful to break up?" (https://www.ft.com/conten
t/e5bf87b4-b3e5-11e7-aa26-bb002965bce8) ((registration required)). Financial Times. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
82. Edward Luce (16 October 2017). "The liberal siren song on Silicon Valley" (https://www.ft.com/content/d0e22d4a-
acda-11e7-aab9-abaa44b1e130) ((registration required)). Financial Times. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
83. Rana Foroohar (21 Jan 2018). "Big Tech should hit the reset button" (https://www.ft.com/content/03dee624-fd0e-
11e7-9b32-d7d59aace167) ((registration required)). Financial Times. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
84. Eve Smith (January 20, 2018). "The techlash against Amazon, Facebook and Google—and what they can do" (ht
tps://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21735026-which-antitrust-remedies-welcome-which-fight-techlash-again
st-amazon-facebook-and). The Economist. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
85. Richard Waters (11 May 2017). "Tech giants need to rein in powers before EU does" (https://www.ft.com/content/
567a1c90-3663-11e7-bce4-9023f8c0fd2e) ((registration required)). Financial Times. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
86. Louise Lucas (21 September 2017). "Beijing's battle to control its homegrown tech groups" (https://www.ft.com/co
ntent/36cd5f2c-94c5-11e7-bdfa-eda243196c2c) ((registration required)). Financial Times. Retrieved 23 March
2018.
87. Shannon Bond (12 Feb 2018). "Unilever threatens to pull ads from tech platforms" (https://www.ft.com/content/b5
602636-0ddc-11e8-839d-41ca06376bf2) ((registration required)). Financial Times. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
88. Sam Levin (15 Dec 2017). "Facebook admits it poses mental health risk – but says using site more can help" (htt
ps://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/dec/15/facebook-mental-health-psychology-social-media). The
Guardian. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
89. Julia Carrie Wong (12 Jan 2018). "Facebook overhauls News Feed in favor of 'meaningful social interactions' " (ht
tps://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/11/facebook-news-feed-algorithm-overhaul-mark-zuckerberg).
The Guardian. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
90. Shoshana Zuboff (2019). " 'passim', esp. chpt 12 & 13". The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a
Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. PublicAffairs. ISBN 9781610395694.
91. Richard Waters, Hannah Kuchler, Tim Bradshaw (27 April 2018). "Big tech's stellar quarter proves the power of
their platforms" (https://www.ft.com/content/28ad66f2-49d4-11e8-8ee8-cae73aab7ccb) ((registration required)).
Financial Times. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
92. Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson (2017). "passim, see esp Chpt. 8, 12 and conclusion". Machine, Platform,
Crowd: Harnessing the Digital Revolution. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0393254297.
93. Jane Komsky (7 September 2017). "Co-Regulating the Platform Economy" (https://www.theregreview.org/2017/0
9/07/komsky-co-regulating-platform-economy/). The Regulatory Review. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
94. Louise Lucas (21 November 2017). "Tencent and Alibaba close in on global tech elite" (https://www.ft.com/conten
t/cfaa17f0-cdcb-11e7-b781-794ce08b24dc) ((registration required)). Financial Times. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
95. Richard Waters (11 May 2017). "Tech giants need to rein in powers before EU does" (https://www.ft.com/content/
567a1c90-3663-11e7-bce4-9023f8c0fd2e) ((registration required)). Financial Times. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
96. Mehreen Khan in Brussels and Aliya Ram in London (1 March 2018). "Social media faces EU '1-hour rule' on
taking down terror content" (https://www.ft.com/content/708b82c4-1d65-11e8-aaca-4574d7dabfb6) ((registration
required)). Financial Times. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
97. "The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet" (http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-1169_en.htm). European
Commission. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
98. Mark Graham; et al. (29 December 2018). "a field guide to the future of work" (https://www.thersa.org/globalasset
s/pdfs/reports/rsa_field-guide-future-work.pdf) (PDF). Royal Society of Arts. Retrieved 11 January 2019.

References
David S. Evans; Richard L. Schmalensee (2016). Matchmakers: The New Economics of Multisided Platforms.
Harvard Business Review Press. ISBN 978-1633691728.

Annabelle Gawer (2010). Platforms, Markets and Innovation. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84844-070-8.

Amrit Tiwana (2013). Platform Ecosystems: Aligning Architecture, Governance, and Strategy. Morgan Kaufmann
Publishers. ISBN 978-0124080669.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Platform_economy&oldid=908857798"

This page was last edited on 1 August 2019, at 13:20 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using
this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.