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Merchant or Two-Sided Platform?

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Author Info
Andrei Hagiu () (Strategy Unit, Harvard Business School)
Abstract

This paper provides a first pass at comparing two polar strategies for market intermediation: "merchant" mode - buying from sellers and reselling to buyers - and "two-sided platform" mode - enabling affiliated sellers to sell directly to affiliated buyers. The merchant mode is more profitable when the chicken-and-egg problem for the two-sided platform is more severe and when the degree of complementarity among sellers' products is higher. The platform mode is preferred when seller investment incentives are important or when there is asymmetric information regarding seller product quality. We discuss these tradeoffs in the context of several prominent digital intermediaries.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by Concept Economics in its journal Review of Network Economics.

Volume (Year): 6 (2007)
Issue (Month): 2 (June)
Pages: 115-133
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Handle: RePEc:rne:rneart:v:6:y:2007:i:2:p:115-133

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Related research
Keywords: Two-sided markets; platforms; intermediaries; network effects.;

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Mark Armstrong Author-Email: mark.armstrong@ucl.ac.uk, 2006. "Competition in Two-Sided Markets," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 37(3), pages 668-691, Autumn.
    Other versions:
  2. Rochet, Jean-Charles & Tirole, Jean, 2003. "Platform Competition in Two-Sided Markets," IDEI Working Papers 152, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Caillaud, Bernard & Jullien, Bruno, 2003. " Chicken & Egg: Competition among Intermediation Service Providers," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 34(2), pages 309-28, Summer.
  4. Schmalensee, Richard, 2002. "Payment Systems and Interchange Fees," Journal of Industrial Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 50(2), pages 103-22, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Spulber, Daniel F, 1996. "Market Microstructure and Intermediation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 10(3), pages 135-52, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Stahl, Dale O, II, 1988. "Bertrand Competition for Inputs and Walrasian Outcomes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(1), pages 189-201, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Spulber, Daniel F, 1996. "Market Making by Price-Setting Firms," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 63(4), pages 559-80, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Rubinstein, Ariel & Wolinsky, Asher, 1987. "Middlemen," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 102(3), pages 581-93, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. John Rust & George Hall, 2003. "Middlemen versus Market Makers: A Theory of Competitive Exchange," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(2), pages 353-403, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  10. Gary Biglaiser, 1993. "Middlemen as Experts," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 24(2), pages 212-223, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Andrei Hagiu, 2006. "Pricing and Commitment by Two-Sided Platforms," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 37(3), pages 720-737, Autumn.
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Kevin J. Boudreau & Andrei Hagiu, 2008. "Platform Rules: Multi-Sided Platforms as Regulators," Harvard Business School Working Papers 09-061, Harvard Business School. [Downloadable!]
  2. Wilko Bolt & Kimmo Soramäki, 2008. "Competition, bargaining power and pricing in two-sided markets," DNB Working Papers 181, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  3. Hagiu, Andrei & Jullien, Bruno, 2007. "Designing a Two-Sided Platform: When To Increase Search Costs?," IDEI Working Papers 473, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse. [Downloadable!]
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