Access to a platform's services often requires consumers to use a complementary hardware product or service, e.g., Internet service is needed to access the YouTube platform. Typically, such access products are provided by third-party firms. More recently, however, some major platforms like...

A new wave of technological innovations, often called 'fintech,' is accelerating change in the financial sector. What impact might fintech have on financial services, and how should regulation respond? This paper sets out an economic framework for thinking through the channels by which fintech...

Motivating buyers and sellers to join an empty platform is thought to be a key challenge for firms attempting to launch digital platforms in two-sided markets. According to predictions from extant literature, ’no one joins until everyone joins’. The phenomenon is often referred to as the...

Many consumers do not carry the product that gives them higher value due to their unawareness of this choice for some product categories (e.g., mobile phone plans, credit cards and insurance). Recently, a new type of platforms has entered the market, and consumers can switch to high-value...