Markets and multisided digital platforms
This research theme examines the rise of multisided digital platforms as a defining feature of contemporary market society. Platforms such as marketplaces, social networks, and digital intermediaries reshape how markets are organized, how value is created, and how economic activity is coordinated.
The rapid growth of platform-based firms reflects their ability to connect different groups—such as buyers and sellers, users and advertisers—more efficiently. By improving matching and enabling large-scale coordination, platforms influence specialization, innovation, and the structure of markets.
Key dynamics
Multisided platforms are part of a broader transformation driven by digitalization. They enable new forms of data collection, value creation, and interaction across market participants.
At the same time, they raise fundamental questions about competition, governance, and the distribution of value. Platform-based markets often operate across borders and institutional contexts, making them central to ongoing changes in both product and factor markets, including labour and capital.
Research focus
The research theme aims to understand how platform-based markets emerge, evolve, and shape economic and societal outcomes. Key areas of focus include:
- Platform design and business models
How platform firms structure their markets, design their business models, and balance the needs of different user groups. - Value creation and distribution
How value is generated within platforms and how it is distributed across stakeholders, including firms, users, and third parties. - Governance and regulation
How platforms are governed, how access is controlled, and how regulatory frameworks respond to issues such as competition, pricing, and market conduct. - Institutional context
The role of national environments, norms, and values in shaping platform strategies and development. - Market transformation and competition
How platforms affect incumbent firms, new entrants, and the evolution of entire market ecosystems. - Societal implications
The broader role of platforms in areas such as information flows, public discourse, and social interaction, as well as their unintended consequences.
Approach
The research combines perspectives from strategy and marketing and is developed in close interaction with stakeholders involved in shaping platform-based markets, including companies, regulators, and other organizations.
By studying multisided platforms, the department contributes to a deeper understanding of how digital markets evolve and how they can be governed in ways that support efficient, fair, and sustainable outcomes.