We use various economic and pedagogical concepts to understand the specificities of MOOC (Massive Online Open Courses) platforms. We discuss how the private provision of MOOCs can be sustained. Using the theory of multisided platforms, we analyze five ways to monetize the MOOC business. We then...

We consider the effects of taxes for competing two-sided platforms. We first detail how a platform passes a tax increase on its prices. Adding price competition, we study next how the tax affects profits. Because of the strategic implications of the cross-side external effects, the tax increase...

In many markets, user benefits depend on participation and usage decisions of other users giving rise to network effects. Intermediaries manage these network effects and thus act as platforms that bring users together. This paper reviews key findings from the literature on network effects and...