E-BUSINESS AND GLOBAL SOURCING – INFERENCES FROM SECURITIES EXCHANGES

This paper sets out a conceptual model that describes how the configuration of relevant geographic markets might change as electronic “gateways” or portals challenge conventional markets. It then considers the main conceptual inferences against the experience of securities markets. Consideration of empirical evidence suggests that e-business will lead to expanded geographic markets, although the pace and extent of the expansion might be slower and less dramatic, even in the long- run, than early enthusiasts of e-business may have anticipated.