The digital economy and the growth dynamics of sharing platforms: A transaction cost economics assessment

RESEARCH RADAR
 

“The digital economy and the growth dynamics of sharing platforms: A transaction cost economics assessment”, published in December 2022 in the Journal of Digital Economy by Yusaf H. Akbar (MIB Visiting Faculty) e Andrea Tracogna (MIB Core Faculty).

Abstract
 

Despite their growing significance in the digital economy, some sharing platforms struggle to achieve sufficient scale, while others fail entirely.
By extending the focus beyond network effects and trust-building mechanisms, this paper seeks to identify factors that impact platform growth and to analyze their implications for governance mechanisms and the strategic management of sharing platforms.
The authors center their analysis on transaction costs economics (TCE) and its three key related variables: transaction frequency, transaction uncertainty, and transaction-dedicated investments.
Their aim is to examine how these variables determine transaction costs at the platform level and how these costs shape member participation and hence platform growth.
To explore their hypotheses, the authors surveyed a community of members of a digital, peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing platform.
Their empirical findings confirm that a platform's growth is significantly affected by transaction features and that, alongside other theoretical approaches, TCE represents an appropriate and complementary lens with which to explore the growth dynamics of sharing platforms, as well as to consider appropriate actions platform owners can take at the organizational, governance, and strategic design levels.
 

Authors
 

Yusaf H. Akbar (MIB Visiting Faculty) - DPhil in Contemporary European Studies, Full Professor Full at Central European University, Vienna and Visting Professor of International Business Management & Emerging Markets at MIB Trieste School of Management
Andrea Tracogna (MIB Core Faculty) - Dean of MIB Trieste School of Management. Full Professor of Strategic Management at the University of Trieste, Senior Lecturer of Strategic Management at MIB Trieste School of Management
 

Useful links

• Research Gate
• The Journal of Digital Economy - Volume 1, Issue 3, December 2022, Pages 209-226