The Role of Digital Platforms in Economic Analysis and Difficulties of Regulation

Abstract

The development of the platform economy has had a significant impact on the boundaries and structure of markets, has become a decisive factor determining the nature of horizontal and vertical interactions. The traditional consideration in neoinstitutional economic theory the "seller-buyer" interactions is increasingly giving way to the discussion of the so-called bilateral or multilateral markets (two-sided/multi-sided markets), the formation takes place around digital platforms. At the same time, there is no single definition of digital platforms in the economic literature, as well as a single classification of them. The classification of digital platforms may be based on various criteria that determine their position and functionality in different ways within the vertical value chain. This creates some difficulties for regulatory authorities related to fixing the specific status of digital platforms in regulatory documents as a kind of reference point defining a specific regulatory regime. In light of this, when determining the tasks facing the regulator, it is of particular relevance to analyze changes in the degree of consumer awareness in the context of the development of multilateral markets, the nature of competition between various distribution channels in multilateral markets, that is, between platforms and manufacturers of goods and services, as well as the analysis of value chains in new changing conditions.