Ecosystem-specific advantages in international digital commerce

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Li, Jiatao; Chen, Liang; Yi, Jingtao; Mao, Jiye; Liao, Jianwen
• 署名单位: Hong Kong University of Science & Technology; University of Melbourne; Renmin University of China
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2506
• DOI: 10.1057/s41267-019-00263-3
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 1448-1463
• 关键词: digital platforms; platform ecosystems; ecosystem-specific advantages; Internet commerce

摘要

We consider the applicability to digital platforms of extant international business scholarship. The organization of digital platforms has been seen to such an extent as predicated upon the bundling of external resources for collective value creation that their expansion may follow the logic of externalization. We further that literature contrasting the governance of network multinationals with that of platform-centric ecosystems. Building on and extending the theory of the ecosystem, we propose the concept of ecosystem-specific advantages. We identify costs and difficulties in the transfer of such advantages to new markets, emphasizing in particular the idea of bottlenecks. We then propose a framework that can be applied to future research on digital platforms, focusing on the users, suppliers of complementary products, and platform firms. We also call for research on the dynamic process of creating, transferring, and upgrading ecosystem-specific advantages.