IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v145y2021ics0305750x21001406.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digital platforms and institutional voids in developing countries: The case of ride-hailing markets

Author

Listed:
  • Heeks, Richard
  • Gomez-Morantes, Juan Erasmo
  • Graham, Mark
  • Howson, Kelle
  • Mungai, Paul
  • Nicholson, Brian
  • Van Belle, Jean-Paul

Abstract

Institutional voids – shortcomings in the institutional functions required by markets – have particularly hampered developing countries. Filling those voids has been widely identified as a strategy for businesses and in this paper we analyse the institutional actions of digital platform companies. Specifically and through primary research, we analyse the impact of e-hailing platforms (Uber, Bolt and EasyTaxi) in Colombia and South Africa on ride-hailing markets characterised by institutional voids. Alongside the void-filling discussed in the literature, we identify three other institutional strategies of these businesses: they also maintain and expand and create institutional voids. The platform companies’ institutional work has formed a market that is more efficient, effective, complete and formalised. At the same time, though, they have institutionalised problematic behaviours and significant inequalities. They have done this by internally institutionalising – within the digital platform and in their broader business model – previously-distributed market functions and power. We suggest some practical actions to address the downsides of platformisation through the filling of ongoing voids, and we identify some research priorities for future studies of institutional voids and platforms in developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Heeks, Richard & Gomez-Morantes, Juan Erasmo & Graham, Mark & Howson, Kelle & Mungai, Paul & Nicholson, Brian & Van Belle, Jean-Paul, 2021. "Digital platforms and institutional voids in developing countries: The case of ride-hailing markets," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:145:y:2021:i:c:s0305750x21001406
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105528
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X21001406
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105528?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martin Kenney & John Zysman, 2019. "Unicorns, Cheshire cats, and the new dilemmas of entrepreneurial finance," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 35-50, January.
    2. Jonathan Doh & Suzana Rodrigues & Ayse Saka-Helmhout & Mona Makhija, 2017. "International business responses to institutional voids," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(3), pages 293-307, April.
    3. Bengtsson, Niklas, 2015. "Efficient informal trade: Theory and experimental evidence from the Cape Town taxi market," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 85-98.
    4. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pb:p:2859-2939 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Myra Wieling & Lex Borghans, 2001. "Descrepancies between Supply and Demand and Adjustment Processes in the Labour Market," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 15(1), pages 33-56, March.
    6. Behrman, Jere R., 1999. "Labor markets in developing countries," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 43, pages 2859-2939, Elsevier.
    7. Niklas Elert & Magnus Henrekson, 2016. "Evasive entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 95-113, June.
    8. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 1989. "Markets and Development," NBER Working Papers 2961, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Mair, Johanna & Marti, Ignasi, 2009. "Entrepreneurship in and around institutional voids: A case study from Bangladesh," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 419-435, September.
    10. Chakrabarty, Subrata, 2009. "The influence of national culture and institutional voids on family ownership of large firms: A country level empirical study," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 32-45, March.
    11. Helmut K. Anheier, 2014. "Institutional Voids and the Role of Civil Society: the Case of Global Finance," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 5(1), pages 23-35, February.
    12. Castellacci, Fulvio, 2015. "Institutional Voids or Organizational Resilience? Business Groups, Innovation, and Market Development in Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 43-58.
    13. Turker, Duygu & Altuntas Vural, Ceren, 2017. "Embedding social innovation process into the institutional context: Voids or supports," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 98-113.
    14. Panos Constantinides & Ola Henfridsson & Geoffrey G. Parker, 2018. "Introduction—Platforms and Infrastructures in the Digital Age," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(2), pages 381-400, June.
    15. Cheng Gao & Tiona Zuzul & Geoffrey Jones & Tarun Khanna, 2017. "Overcoming Institutional Voids: A Reputation-Based View of Long-Run Survival," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(11), pages 2147-2167, November.
    16. Littlewood, David C. & Kiyumbu, Wilkister L., 2018. "“Hub” organisations in Kenya: What are they? What do they do? And what is their potential?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 276-285.
    17. Wouter P. C. Boon & Kristy Spruit & Koen Frenken, 2019. "Collective institutional work: the case of Airbnb in Amsterdam, London and New York," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(8), pages 898-919, September.
    18. Justin W. Webb & Theodore A. Khoury & Michael A. Hitt, 2020. "The Influence of Formal and Informal Institutional Voids on Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(3), pages 504-526, May.
    19. Tirachini, Alejandro & del Río, Mariana, 2019. "Ride-hailing in Santiago de Chile: Users’ characterisation and effects on travel behaviour," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 46-57.
    20. Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1989. "Markets, Market Failures, and Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(2), pages 197-203, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Francis Lwesya, 2022. "Integration into regional or global value chains and economic upgrading prospects: an analysis of the East African Community (EAC) bloc," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Plantinga, Paul & Shilongo, Kristophina & Mudongo, Oarabile & Umubyeyi, Angelique & Gastrow, Michael & Razzano, Gabriella, 2023. "Responsible artificial intelligence in Africa: Towards policy learning," SocArXiv jyhae, Center for Open Science.
    3. Makoza, Frank, 2023. "Analyzing policy change of Malawi ICT and Digitalization policy: Policy Assemblage Perspective," EconStor Preprints 273309, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    4. Plantinga, Paul, 2022. "Digital discretion and public administration in Africa: Implications for the use of artificial intelligence," SocArXiv 2r98w, Center for Open Science.
    5. Lotitto, Estefanía & Díaz de Astarloa, Bernardo, 2023. "The landscape of B2C e-commerce marketplaces in Latin America and the Caribbean," Desarrollo Productivo 48583, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    6. Otioma, Chuks & Nsanzumuhire, Silas U. & Grillitsch, Markus & Jirström, Magnus, 2023. "Seeking for the shift towards challenge-oriented innovation policies: Tracing digitalization policies over two decades in Africa," Papers in Innovation Studies 2023/9, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    7. Katarzyna Cieslik & Roland Banya & Bhaskar Vira, 2022. "Offline contexts of online jobs: Platform drivers, decent work, and informality in Lagos, Nigeria," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 40(4), July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. McAdam, Maura & Crowley, Caren & Harrison, Richard T., 2019. "“To boldly go where no [man] has gone before” - Institutional voids and the development of women's digital entrepreneurship11The title is taken from the original titles voice-over for the TV series St," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 912-922.
    2. Nathaniel Boso & Joseph Amankwah-Amoah & Dominic Essuman & Oluwaseun E. Olabode & Patience Bruce & Magnus Hultman & James Kofi Kutsoati & Ogechi Adeola, 2023. "Configuring political relationships to navigate host-country institutional complexity: Insights from Anglophone sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(6), pages 1055-1089, August.
    3. Franczak, Jennifer & Lanivich, Stephen E. & Adomako, Samuel, 2023. "Filling institutional voids: Combinative effects of institutional shortcomings and gender on the alertness – Opportunity recognition relationship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PB).
    4. Bustamante, Carla V. & Mingo, Santiago & Matusik, Sharon F., 2021. "Institutions and venture capital market creation: The case of an emerging market," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 1-12.
    5. Brieger, Steven A. & Chowdhury, Farzana & Hechavarría, Diana M. & Muralidharan, Etayankara & Pathak, Saurav & Lam, Yan Tong, 2022. "Digitalization, institutions and new venture internationalization," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(4).
    6. Richard Harrison & William Scheela & P. C. Lai & Sivapalan Vivekarajah, 2018. "Beyond institutional voids and the middle-income trap: The emerging business angel market in Malaysia," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(4), pages 965-991, December.
    7. Alaydi, Sharif & Buck, Trevor & Tang, Yee Kwan, 2021. "Strategic responses to extreme institutional challenges: An MNE case study in the Palestinian mobile phone sector," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(3).
    8. Fine, Ben, 2002. "Economics Imperialism and the New Development Economics as Kuhnian Paradigm Shift?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(12), pages 2057-2070, December.
    9. Tang, Shui-Yan, 1995. "Informal credit markets and economic development in Taiwan," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 845-855, May.
    10. Simon Hartmann & Thomas Lindner & Jakob Müllner & Jonas Puck, 2022. "Beyond the nation-state: Anchoring supranational institutions in international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(6), pages 1282-1306, August.
    11. Chen, Yongmin & Puttitanun, Thitima, 2005. "Intellectual property rights and innovation in developing countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 474-493, December.
    12. Sagren Moodley, 2002. "Competing in the Digital Economy?: The Dynamics and Impacts of B2B E-commerce on the South African Manufacturing Sector," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2002-79, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Zoltan J. Acs & Saul Estrin & Tomasz Mickiewicz & László Szerb, 2018. "Entrepreneurship, institutional economics, and economic growth: an ecosystem perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 501-514, August.
    14. Jose Luis Retolaza & Leire San-Jose, 2021. "Understanding Social Accounting Based on Evidence," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, April.
    15. Preuss, Lutz & Vazquez-Brust, Diego & Yakovleva, Natalia & Foroughi, Hamid & Mutti, Diana, 2022. "When social movements close institutional voids: Triggers, processes, and consequences for multinational enterprises," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(1).
    16. Olsen, Per Ingvar & Prenkert, Frans & Hoholm, Thomas & Harrison, Debbie, 2014. "The dynamics of networked power in a concentrated business network," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(12), pages 2579-2589.
    17. Logan Cochrane & Eric P. H. Li & Melisew Dejene & M. Mustahid Husain, 2024. "Why foreign agricultural investment fails? Five lessons from Ethiopia," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(1), pages 541-558, January.
    18. Attila Havas & Doris Schartinger & K. Matthias Weber, 2022. "Innovation Studies, Social Innovation, and Sustainability Transitions Research: From mutual ignorance towards an integrative perspective?," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 2227, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    19. Juan M. Gil-Barragan & María José López-Sánchez, 2021. "The Fast Lane of Internationalization of Latin American SMEs: A Location-Based Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-20, March.
    20. Jeremy Webb & Max Briggs & Clevo Wilson, 2018. "Breaking automotive modal lock-in: a choice modelling study of Jakarta commuters," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 20(1), pages 47-68, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:145:y:2021:i:c:s0305750x21001406. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.