John Child, David Faulkner, Stephen Tallman, and Linda Hsieh
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- June 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198814634
- eISBN:
- 9780191852374
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198814634.003.0006
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Strategy
Chapter 6 analyzes a new form of economy, enabled by ICTs, digital platforms, and smart devices to connect transactors (sharers or buyers and sellers) who may not have been able to cooperate ...
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Chapter 6 analyzes a new form of economy, enabled by ICTs, digital platforms, and smart devices to connect transactors (sharers or buyers and sellers) who may not have been able to cooperate otherwise. It provides an overview of the phenomenon of “the platform revolution” (from classic value chain logic to platform business logic). It goes on to explain different types of platform (innovation platform, transaction platform, integration platform), the principles of platform business (network effects, the distribution power law, asymmetric growth and competition) and the tacit cooperative strategies of suppliers, platform providers, and customers. Cooperation is tacit—providers do not interact and customers do not interact, except through ratings. The platform system is set up to maintain this condition. The chapter concludes with an overview of platform governance.Less
Chapter 6 analyzes a new form of economy, enabled by ICTs, digital platforms, and smart devices to connect transactors (sharers or buyers and sellers) who may not have been able to cooperate otherwise. It provides an overview of the phenomenon of “the platform revolution” (from classic value chain logic to platform business logic). It goes on to explain different types of platform (innovation platform, transaction platform, integration platform), the principles of platform business (network effects, the distribution power law, asymmetric growth and competition) and the tacit cooperative strategies of suppliers, platform providers, and customers. Cooperation is tacit—providers do not interact and customers do not interact, except through ratings. The platform system is set up to maintain this condition. The chapter concludes with an overview of platform governance.
Jeremias Prassl
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- April 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198797012
- eISBN:
- 9780191859458
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198797012.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Employment Law
This chapter explores how the gig economy works. It looks at some of the most important platforms and illustrates their central role in shaping transactions between consumers and workers. Digital ...
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This chapter explores how the gig economy works. It looks at some of the most important platforms and illustrates their central role in shaping transactions between consumers and workers. Digital work intermediation, in particular, is key to understanding the gig economy: here, platforms’ sophisticated algorithms connect workers and customers, and exercise ongoing control over the ensuing relationships. The chapter then charts the astonishing variety and global growth of the gig economy, with a particular emphasis on how platforms make money, from improved matchmaking to regulatory arbitrage. Finally, this chapter turns to the broader impacts of digital work intermediation, considering how platforms go beyond mere matchmaking to shape the experiences of workers and consumers.Less
This chapter explores how the gig economy works. It looks at some of the most important platforms and illustrates their central role in shaping transactions between consumers and workers. Digital work intermediation, in particular, is key to understanding the gig economy: here, platforms’ sophisticated algorithms connect workers and customers, and exercise ongoing control over the ensuing relationships. The chapter then charts the astonishing variety and global growth of the gig economy, with a particular emphasis on how platforms make money, from improved matchmaking to regulatory arbitrage. Finally, this chapter turns to the broader impacts of digital work intermediation, considering how platforms go beyond mere matchmaking to shape the experiences of workers and consumers.
Vanessa Mak
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- October 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198854487
- eISBN:
- 9780191888779
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198854487.003.0006
- Subject:
- Law, EU Law
This chapter charts which rules concerning contracts and consumer protection have until now emerged in public and private regulation. These contain a mix of public regulation, co-regulation, codes of ...
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This chapter charts which rules concerning contracts and consumer protection have until now emerged in public and private regulation. These contain a mix of public regulation, co-regulation, codes of conduct, soft law projects to develop model rules, and reputational feedback systems. Also, online dispute resolution can in practice be a source of norms, as norms developed in this context are often through a feedback loop used to improve the quality of services offered by platform operators. Here, the chapter places the focus on the platform economy. Platforms themselves are actively working to provide mechanisms that can, at least partly, overcome the problems of enforcing consumer rights. They have an interest in securing trust between users who, even more than consumers in the offline world, are at a disadvantage in establishing the quality of goods and services and the reliability of their counterparty. Platforms therefore use mechanisms that can fill in a ‘regulatory void’.Less
This chapter charts which rules concerning contracts and consumer protection have until now emerged in public and private regulation. These contain a mix of public regulation, co-regulation, codes of conduct, soft law projects to develop model rules, and reputational feedback systems. Also, online dispute resolution can in practice be a source of norms, as norms developed in this context are often through a feedback loop used to improve the quality of services offered by platform operators. Here, the chapter places the focus on the platform economy. Platforms themselves are actively working to provide mechanisms that can, at least partly, overcome the problems of enforcing consumer rights. They have an interest in securing trust between users who, even more than consumers in the offline world, are at a disadvantage in establishing the quality of goods and services and the reliability of their counterparty. Platforms therefore use mechanisms that can fill in a ‘regulatory void’.
Vanessa Mak
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- October 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198854487
- eISBN:
- 9780191888779
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198854487.003.0007
- Subject:
- Law, EU Law
This chapter analyses the relations between the various sources of norms introduced in the previous chapter to assess the space for deliberation between lawmaking actors. To that end, the substance ...
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This chapter analyses the relations between the various sources of norms introduced in the previous chapter to assess the space for deliberation between lawmaking actors. To that end, the substance of norms developed in private regulation by platforms and through contracting is tested against the objectives and values of existing rules of EU and national contract and consumer laws to establish whether these are adhered to, or not. In terms of substance, the case study focuses in particular on transparency in contracting, that is, the question whether terms and conditions are clear and comprehensible to parties entering into contracts. Practically, two platforms are selected for the case study. One is aimed at connecting users for the exchange of services (Airbnb) and the other for the exchange of goods (Amazon).Less
This chapter analyses the relations between the various sources of norms introduced in the previous chapter to assess the space for deliberation between lawmaking actors. To that end, the substance of norms developed in private regulation by platforms and through contracting is tested against the objectives and values of existing rules of EU and national contract and consumer laws to establish whether these are adhered to, or not. In terms of substance, the case study focuses in particular on transparency in contracting, that is, the question whether terms and conditions are clear and comprehensible to parties entering into contracts. Practically, two platforms are selected for the case study. One is aimed at connecting users for the exchange of services (Airbnb) and the other for the exchange of goods (Amazon).
Vanessa Mak
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- October 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198854487
- eISBN:
- 9780191888779
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198854487.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, EU Law
The relevance of contracting and self-regulation in consumer markets has increased rapidly in recent years, in particular in the platform economy. Online platforms provide opportunities for ...
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The relevance of contracting and self-regulation in consumer markets has increased rapidly in recent years, in particular in the platform economy. Online platforms provide opportunities for businesses and consumers to connect with strangers, often across borders, trading products, and services. In this new economy, platform operators create, apply, and enforce their own rules in their contractual relationships with users. This book examines the substance of these rules and the space for private governance beyond the reach of state regulation. It explores recent developments in lawmaking ‘beyond the state’ with case studies focusing on companies such as Airbnb and Amazon. The book asks how common values and objectives of EU law, such as consumer protection and contractual fairness, can be safeguarded when lawmaking shifts to a space outside the reach of state law.Less
The relevance of contracting and self-regulation in consumer markets has increased rapidly in recent years, in particular in the platform economy. Online platforms provide opportunities for businesses and consumers to connect with strangers, often across borders, trading products, and services. In this new economy, platform operators create, apply, and enforce their own rules in their contractual relationships with users. This book examines the substance of these rules and the space for private governance beyond the reach of state regulation. It explores recent developments in lawmaking ‘beyond the state’ with case studies focusing on companies such as Airbnb and Amazon. The book asks how common values and objectives of EU law, such as consumer protection and contractual fairness, can be safeguarded when lawmaking shifts to a space outside the reach of state law.
José van Dijck, Thomas Poell, and Martijn de Waal
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- October 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190889760
- eISBN:
- 9780190889807
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190889760.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
Individuals all over the world can use Airbnb to rent an apartment in a foreign city, check Coursera to find a course on statistics, join PatientsLikeMe to exchange information about one’s disease, ...
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Individuals all over the world can use Airbnb to rent an apartment in a foreign city, check Coursera to find a course on statistics, join PatientsLikeMe to exchange information about one’s disease, hail a cab using Uber, or read the news through Facebook’s Instant Articles. In The Platform Society, Van Dijck, Poell, and De Waal offer a comprehensive analysis of a connective world where platforms have penetrated the heart of societies—disrupting markets and labor relations, transforming social and civic practices, and affecting democratic processes. The Platform Society analyzes intense struggles between competing ideological systems and contesting societal actors—market, government, and civil society—asking who is or should be responsible for anchoring public values and the common good in a platform society. Public values include, of course, privacy, accuracy, safety, and security; but they also pertain to broader societal effects, such as fairness, accessibility, democratic control, and accountability. Such values are the very stakes in the struggle over the platformization of societies around the globe. The Platform Society highlights how these struggles play out in four private and public sectors: news, urban transport, health, and education. Some of these conflicts highlight local dimensions, for instance, fights over regulation between individual platforms and city councils, while others address the geopolitical level where power clashes between global markets and (supra-)national governments take place.Less
Individuals all over the world can use Airbnb to rent an apartment in a foreign city, check Coursera to find a course on statistics, join PatientsLikeMe to exchange information about one’s disease, hail a cab using Uber, or read the news through Facebook’s Instant Articles. In The Platform Society, Van Dijck, Poell, and De Waal offer a comprehensive analysis of a connective world where platforms have penetrated the heart of societies—disrupting markets and labor relations, transforming social and civic practices, and affecting democratic processes. The Platform Society analyzes intense struggles between competing ideological systems and contesting societal actors—market, government, and civil society—asking who is or should be responsible for anchoring public values and the common good in a platform society. Public values include, of course, privacy, accuracy, safety, and security; but they also pertain to broader societal effects, such as fairness, accessibility, democratic control, and accountability. Such values are the very stakes in the struggle over the platformization of societies around the globe. The Platform Society highlights how these struggles play out in four private and public sectors: news, urban transport, health, and education. Some of these conflicts highlight local dimensions, for instance, fights over regulation between individual platforms and city councils, while others address the geopolitical level where power clashes between global markets and (supra-)national governments take place.
Vanessa Mak
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- October 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198854487
- eISBN:
- 9780191888779
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198854487.003.0001
- Subject:
- Law, EU Law
This introductory chapter presents the major themes of study and narrows the scope of research to the European Union (EU). It briefly examines developing trends in the market for consumer goods and ...
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This introductory chapter presents the major themes of study and narrows the scope of research to the European Union (EU). It briefly examines developing trends in the market for consumer goods and services as well as the legal systems which changed to accommodate these trends. In particular, the chapter focuses on the platform economy. It discusses issues arising from these developments, especially as they apply to private law. Private law concerns the contractual rights that suppliers and customers have vis-à-vis each other and their potential liability. However, whereas the rights and duties of these parties would normally be governed by rules of national contract and consumer law, or perhaps also by rules of European origin if the parties are in the EU, the platform economy has created a private sphere that operates largely through other mechanisms. From here, the chapter introduces research questions as well as a new approach to lawmaking in European law.Less
This introductory chapter presents the major themes of study and narrows the scope of research to the European Union (EU). It briefly examines developing trends in the market for consumer goods and services as well as the legal systems which changed to accommodate these trends. In particular, the chapter focuses on the platform economy. It discusses issues arising from these developments, especially as they apply to private law. Private law concerns the contractual rights that suppliers and customers have vis-à-vis each other and their potential liability. However, whereas the rights and duties of these parties would normally be governed by rules of national contract and consumer law, or perhaps also by rules of European origin if the parties are in the EU, the platform economy has created a private sphere that operates largely through other mechanisms. From here, the chapter introduces research questions as well as a new approach to lawmaking in European law.
Sharon Zukin
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- March 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780190083830
- eISBN:
- 9780190083861
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190083830.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Economic Sociology, Culture
New York Tech Meetup emerged in the early 2000s as a formative organization in the city’s innovation ecosystem. Every month, hundreds of mostly young people and a few potential investors come to see ...
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New York Tech Meetup emerged in the early 2000s as a formative organization in the city’s innovation ecosystem. Every month, hundreds of mostly young people and a few potential investors come to see computer coders and startup founders “demo” new apps and platforms they have created. In the 2010s, the tech meetup was joined by other organizations that also claimed to mobilize and speak for New York’s tech “community,” notably, the nonprofit organization Civic Hall, specializing in “civic tech,” and Tech:NYC, a nonprofit industry association. The chapter uses ethnographic observations and interviews with leaders of these organizations to document their efforts to “leverage” the membership for a role in tech policymaking in the city.Less
New York Tech Meetup emerged in the early 2000s as a formative organization in the city’s innovation ecosystem. Every month, hundreds of mostly young people and a few potential investors come to see computer coders and startup founders “demo” new apps and platforms they have created. In the 2010s, the tech meetup was joined by other organizations that also claimed to mobilize and speak for New York’s tech “community,” notably, the nonprofit organization Civic Hall, specializing in “civic tech,” and Tech:NYC, a nonprofit industry association. The chapter uses ethnographic observations and interviews with leaders of these organizations to document their efforts to “leverage” the membership for a role in tech policymaking in the city.