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Assessing Regulatory Impact and Platform Engagement in the Streaming Economy: A twostage Network DEA Analysis of Selected European Countries

Author

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  • Papathanasopoulos, Athanasios
  • Varoutas, Dimitris

Abstract

This study evaluated the regulatory efficiency and performance of Over-the-Top (OTT) streaming platforms across ten European countries—France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, UK, Norway, Serbia, Greece, Italy, and Turkey—using a two-stage Network Data Envelopment Analysis (NDEA) framework. It also compared Europe to a global dataset that included countries from North America, South America, the Middle East & North Africa, and Asia-Pacific. The results from Stage revealed that European countries with modernized legislation, such as the UK, Germany, and France, demonstrated superior regulatory efficiency compared to those with outdated frameworks, such as Serbia. This highlighted the importance of up-to-date regulations, including net neutrality and data protection policies like GDPR, in fostering a strong regulatory environment. In Stage and the overall efficiency rankings (θoverall), the UK emerged as the top performer in Europe with a score of 0.5454, driven by its coherent regulatory framework, effective taxation policies, and robust market competition. Germany (0.5171) and Italy (0.4449) followed, benefiting from structured regulations and diverse OTT offerings. However, countries like Serbia (0.0484), Greece (0.1527), Ireland (0.1243) and the Netherlands (0.1710) lagged, reflecting inconsistencies in translating regulatory strengths into market success. Globally, Europe achieved a mean regulatory efficiency score of 0.7823, surpassing other regions in Stage 1 except North America, but its overall efficiency (θoverall = 0.3059) trailed North America (0.5631) and Asia-Pacific (0.3746). Europe's fragmented regulatory frameworks across countries and inconsistent implementation of taxation of international OTT platforms and OTT-specific policies hindered its ability to achieve unified market performance, despite its regulatory strengths. The findings underscored the need for European countries to adopt cohesive taxation frameworks for international streaming platforms, modernized OTT-specific regulations, and a more integrated regulatory approach to enhance the overall market efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Papathanasopoulos, Athanasios & Varoutas, Dimitris, 2025. "Assessing Regulatory Impact and Platform Engagement in the Streaming Economy: A twostage Network DEA Analysis of Selected European Countries," 33rd European Regional ITS Conference, Edinburgh, 2025: Digital innovation and transformation in uncertain times 331297, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:itse25:331297
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Katherine Chen, Yi-Ning, 2019. "Competitions between OTT TV platforms and traditional television in Taiwan: A Niche analysis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(9).
    2. Esteban Lafuente & Zoltán J. Ács & László Szerb, 2024. "Analysis of the digital platform economy around the world: A network DEA model for identifying policy priorities," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(2), pages 847-891, March.
    3. Szabó, Andrea & Pham, Vinh, 2022. "Net neutrality and consumer demand in the video on-demand market," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
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