A Study of Ride-Hailing Platforms' Business Models in the Presence of Surge Demand

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Feng, Haiyang; Feng, Nan; Zhang, Ling; Jiang, Zhengrui; Li, Minqiang
• 署名单位: Tianjin University; Shijiazhuang Tiedao University; The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen; Tianjin University
• 刊物名称: INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1047-7047
• DOI: 10.1287/isre.2022.0695
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: optimal investment; COMPETITION; strategies

摘要

Booming demand in the ride-hailing market allows ride-hailing platforms to experiment with different business models. This study analyzes whether a ride-hailing platform should adopt a closed business model, that is, serving riders only with platformowned vehicles, or an open business model, that is, allowing private vehicles to utilize the platform to provide services. Special attention is paid to the impact of uneven demand during a day; thus, the game-theoretical model we develop features a two-period framework with normal and surge periods. Analytical results reveal that the open business model leads to more service supply (supply-augmenting effect) and a lower price increase (price discrimination-hindering effect) in the surge period, both benefiting riders. It also reduces the number of idle vehicles in the normal period, thus resulting in more efficient utilization of vehicle resources. These effects jointly lead to higher social welfare under the open business model. Interestingly, the platform does not always benefit from adopting the open business model, and a higher level of demand surge has nonmonotonic impacts on the optimality of this model. In sum, the open business model always benefits the riders, private drivers, and the society as a whole, but it may not be more profitable for the platform. This interesting result calls for policymakers to incentivize the platform so that it adopts the open business model instead of the closed one.