Building a single market for data: Data spaces as pro-competitive infrastructure

Diversification and specialization represent two strategic pathways, with differing implications for economic performance, risk management, and resilience. Using survey data from 417 prawn farms in Bangladesh, this study examines the economic effects of joint production in integrated extensive gher systems combining prawn, carp, rice, and vegetables. An output-oriented stochastic distance function with a translog (TL) specification is used estimate technical efficiency, elasticities, and economies of scale and scope. Results indicate an average technical efficiency score of 0.70, indicating a 30% potential output gap. We find decreasing returns to scale (scale elasticity ≈0.52), with seed cost exhibiting strong negative efficiency effects and feed cost showing significant positive contributions. Among income sources, aquaculture income has the largest positive effect on efficiency, followed by other on-farm income. Off-farm income, while important for household resilience, shows no positive efficiency effect and may compete with farmers’ managerial focus. Scope economies are strongest when aquaculture is combined with other on-farm activities (e.g. rice and vegetables), highlighting the benefits of targeted diversification within this setting. Our findings suggest that while on-farm diversification can enhance cost efficiency and resilience, specialization remains relevant for optimizing certain inputs and managing operational scale.

Context: The dairy sector contributes 24.3% to Colombia's livestock GDP, with Northern Antioquia serving as the country’s primary specialized dairy basin. This production system characterized by small-scale family producers organized into cooperatives faces critical structural challenges: trade liberalization (due to Free Trade Agreements in 2026), rural labor shortages, and a crisis of generational succession. While quantitative studies have previously characterized its productivity and competitiveness, there is limited research regarding how actors co-create value, and which formal and informal institutional configurations shape their economic practices. Methods: This qualitative study employs a sequential design grounded in two systematic literature reviews. Fifteen theoretical codes were derived across three core constructs: Value Creation, Institutional Framework, and Competitive Advantage. Data collection involved 24 semi-structured interviews with producers (small, medium, and large), processors, and cooperative representatives, complemented by 10 non-participant farm observations. A directed qualitative content analysis was conducted, combining deductive and inductive coding with methodological triangulation to ensure analytical rigor and credibility. Results: The analysis yielded 2,438 codifications. The central finding is the marked predominance of informal institutions over formal ones at a ratio of 2.4:1 (376 vs. 157 codifications), demonstrating that shared values, interpersonal trust, and generational tradition constitute the primary regulatory framework for economic behavior. Ten unanticipated themes emerged, notably: family structure as a source of competitive advantage (347 mentions), time/continuity as a dimension of value (206 mentions), and democratic participation in cooperatives as a mechanism for co-creation (154 mentions). Co-occurrence analysis revealed that cooperatives function as hybrid institutional spaces that bridge the formal-informal divide, mitigating institutional voids through volume aggregation, collective bargaining, and the provision of specialized technical services. Conclusions: This study offers four theoretical contributions: (1) it empirically documents the institutional predominance of the informal in traditional agro-industrial chains, extending institutional theory to the family-based dairy context; (2) it identifies emerging dimensions of value (temporality and ethics) previously overlooked in the literature; (3) it conceptualizes "economies of family scope" as an alternative source of competitive advantage that challenges traditional Porterian assumptions; and (4) it characterizes the cooperative model as an effective mechanism for reducing institutional voids. These findings have significant implications for public policy, suggesting that strategic interventions must align with, rather than oppose, existing informal institutional frameworks.

Whereas prior studies in the literature have presented mixed, and at times conflicting, results due to their use of data voluntarily reported by private equity funds to third-party vendors for the purpose of advertising, this study is the first to overcome these sample bias issues by analyzing comprehensive performance and investment data from the confidential regulatory SEC Form PF filings of US private equity funds. This article uses these novel data to revisit key questions in the literature, such as the comparison of private versus public equity performance, whether private equity returns exhibit economies of scale and scope, and whether leveraged strategies yield risk premiums.

Purpose Balancing economic efficiency and public governance is a challenge in the provision of local environmental services. This study aims to examine how alternative organisational arrangements may reconcile efficiency requirements with public control in light of circular economy objectives and incentive regulations. Design/methodology/approach Focusing on municipal solid waste and integrated water service management, this paper develops an analytical framework to examine potential welfare gains from integration. The study discusses an inter-municipal cooperation model centred on a utility, analysing how coordination, scale and governance interact. Findings The framework clarifies the relationships between service scale, governance capacity and social welfare. The analysis highlights potential economies of scale and scope while also identifying governance trade-offs associated with organisational expansion. Institutional arrangements based on coordinated public ownership can partially mitigate these trade-offs by supporting collective oversight and strategic alignment with circular economy objectives. Practical implications The framework clarifies the relationships between service scale, governance capacity and social welfare. The analysis highlights potential economies of scale and scope while also identifying governance trade-offs associated with organisational expansion. Institutional arrangements based on coordinated public ownership can partially mitigate these trade-offs by supporting collective oversight and strategic alignment with circular economy objectives. Originality/value This study offers an integrated analytical framework that links industrial organisation, public governance and sustainability, providing interpretative insights into emerging coordination models for environmental services.

One Health operationalization needs political and financial support and decision makers need to have an economic rationale for their actions. Therefore, both advocates and decision makers need economic methodologies to highlight the value of One Health. The objective of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework grounded in six economic principles that can serve as building blocks for an investment case for One Health. Some of these principles relate to the implementation of interventions, showing how One Health approaches can be more efficient. These include inefficiencies in resource allocation, economies of scope, scale and joint production and distributional considerations. The other principles, public goods and externalities and incentive compatibility focus on outcomes, helping to identify how an investment in one sector creates a benefit in another. The economic principles were also used in two conceptual case studies (Leptospirosis and anti-microbial resistance) to provide illustrative examples. The case studies demonstrate how investment in One Health not only helps to address health risks such as Leptospirosis but can provide significant synergistic benefits such as improving agricultural production and livelihoods. They also highlight a critical point that while One Health is generally associated with collaboration between sectors, many of its benefits arise not from working together, but from each sector being adequately equipped to fulfill its core functions. Effective animal and environmental health services are essential foundations for One Health operationalization. Investing in the capacity of these sectors is therefore not just beneficial-it is the critical driver of One Health value.

This paper contributes to the literature on mergers and frontier-based regulation. Revenue cap schemes based on frontier benchmarking can provide strong incentives for cost reduction, especially when there is a large number of low-cost peers available. Mergers can also lead to cost savings through knowledge sharing and economies of scale and scope. However, mergers may reduce the number of peers, thereby diminishing the competitive pressure generated by the benchmarking model. Therefore, regulators must balance the cost savings from mergers against the potential reduction in competitive pressure from a smaller peer group. We examine this trade-off by analyzing potential remedies that regulators might apply in the context of a merger. While mergers may yield direct efficiency gains, these are often modest compared to the broader impact on firms indirectly affected by the merger. As a result, achieving industry-wide cost reductions is difficult when both direct and indirect effects are accounted for. To explore this further, we consider three alternative remedies: baseline, customized, and augmented. These differ in the revenue targets set for newly merged firms and in how pre- and post-merger information is used in the benchmarking of non-merged firms. The overall impact on consumer costs depends on the specifics of the merger, the remedy chosen, and the assumed returns to scale. Under constant, increasing, or additive returns to scale, the augmented remedy results in the lowest cost to consumers. Nevertheless, even in these cases, consumers may still be better off without the merger.

There is an ever-increasing need for hospitals in the United States to improve upon their performance. In particular, it is necessary for hospitals to decrease their costs while improving patient satisfaction. Intuitively, hospitals adopt different strategies to accomplish those goals. Researchers have examined how hospitals that use a focus strategy (i.e., specialization) seek ways to improve performance by increased efficiencies and coordination among resources. Other studies examine the impact of increased hospital services (i.e. breadth) as a means to benefit from economies of scope. This study expands upon those literatures by submitting that focus and breadth do not have to be opposing strategies but can be implemented simultaneously; i.e. breadth of services with specialized focus on a few. The current study also examines how hospital size moderates the relationship between those two hospital strategies and performance. Specifically, this study applies an organizational information processing theory lens to predict that hospital focus and service breadth will impact patient satisfaction and cost per discharge, and how those relationships will be moderated by hospital size. Using a pooled cross-section, a regression analysis shows that hospital focus generally improves patient satisfaction while lowering cost; however, the impact on patient satisfaction is diminished for large hospitals. Additionally, service breadth tends to decrease patient satisfaction and lowers cost per discharge; however, the decrease in patient satisfaction is partially mitigated for large hospitals.

Abstract Research Summary Co‐using tasks—using the same task to produce more than one product—promises economies of scope. However, task co‐use also ties products together, changing a firm's task network by introducing cross‐product interdependencies. In light of these interdependencies, we identify an unrecognized downside of task co‐use for product reliability: Cross‐product interdependencies complicate task design and increase the risk of malfunctions. Hence, task co‐use may carry a reliability penalty. Second, we propose that the reliability penalty of task co‐use may shrink with experience as cross‐product interdependencies allow for cross‐improvements and therefore potentially higher improvement rates of task co‐using products. We study the US automotive industry and find our predictions supported, indicating that task co‐use is a critical design parameter with important consequences for reliability and product improvement. Managerial Summary Using the same tasks to produce multiple products can help firms lower costs and achieve economies of scope. However, this practice also links products more tightly together, creating interdependencies across product lines. These interdependencies can make tasks harder to design and manage, increasing the likelihood of errors or malfunctions. As a result, task co‐use may reduce product reliability—an important but often overlooked drawback. At the same time, co‐used tasks can enable portfolio‐wide improvements— improvements across products. As firms gain experience, problems identified in one product can lead to improvements that benefit others using the same tasks. Over time, these cross‐improvements accelerate product improvement for task co‐using products and can reduce the initial reliability disadvantage. Evidence from the U.S. automotive industry supports these arguments. The findings show that task co‐use is a key design decision that involves meaningful trade‐offs between cost savings, reliability, and improvement. For managers, this highlights the importance of carefully evaluating when and how tasks should be co‐used across products, as these choices have lasting implications for product quality and improvement.

ABSTRACT We apply a two-stage model to characterize the multistage production process of Taiwan’s public audit firms. In the first stage, firms are assumed to hire some ratios of partners and managers (x 1) and fixed assets (x 2) to undertake various cases. In the second stage, firms employ the remaining x 1 and x 2, together with cases and the number of employees, to complete the entrusted cases. We use copula methods to derive the log-likelihood function and find that the smaller firms outperform that of large firms in both stages, and scale and scope economies prevail in either or both stages.

The imperative for global food security, driven by a projected population of $9.8$ billion by 2050, conflicts with escalating labor costs and inherent inefficiencies in traditional agricultural practices. This review critically assesses the role of IoT-based agricultural robotics in advancing Smart Agriculture (SA) and Precision Farming (PA). We synthesize the state-ofthe-art across three specialized domains—precision seed sowing, Variable Rate Technology (VRT) chemical spraying, and autonomous mechanical weed control—to establish the necessity and design principles of multifunctional robotic platforms, exemplified by systems like Krushi Yantra. Thematic analysis reveals that, for resource-constrained smallholders, the economy of scope provided by multi-tasking robots offers a superior solution over the economy of scale offered by specialized machinery. However, widespread adoption is limited by high acquisition costs, the rural connectivity gap (hindering real-time autonomy), and technical trade-offs required for cost-effective sensor fusion. Future research directions must prioritize hybrid 5G/WiFi6 communication infrastructures, sustainable hardware (solar power, lightweight chassis), and the integration of enhanced generalized AI to ensure robust, equitable, and environmentally conscious autonomy in modern agriculture

Purpose Limited attention has been given to how product, process and organisational modularity interact to enable effective platform development. This study investigates how modularity, particularly influenced by AI-driven complexity, supports the successful creation and implementation of digital platforms. It specifically explores how varying degrees of complexity influence modularity choices, thereby offering new insights for platform development. Design/methodology/approach The study focuses on three embedded cases of platforms with increasing levels of complexity, developed by a leading Chinese e-commerce conglomerate. The extensive data collection involves 38 formal interviews, 26 informal follow-up interviews and supplemental documentary evidence. Findings The findings identify that a novel strategy, Zhongtai, a complex interplay between organisational, process and product modularity is central to managing innovation in digital platforms. It offers a framework for dynamic flexibility that balances stability and agility during development. The Zhongtai strategy became so successful that the conglomerate changed its organisational structure to mirror the architecture of its digital platform. Originality/value The research contributes to the understanding of digital platform innovation in multiple ways. It demonstrates specifically how the Zhongtai strategy has addressed various development problems for digital platforms, including resource wastage, duplication, uneven service performance and silos. It also extends the modularity and platform literature, by adopting a dynamic and long-term perspective concerned with achieving economies of scope and repetition.

Degrowth scholars emphasize the importance of the foundational economy (FE) for ‘living well within planetary boundaries’. The foundational economy describes the provision and regulation of everyday goods and services needed for the satisfaction of basic needs, such as housing, care, education, energy, food and mobility. However, there is a lack of conceptual models linking FE production and consumption to biodiversity conservation and restoration. This paper develops an ecological–economic model of ecosystem services, biodiversity conservation, and the foundational economy. It embeds FE sectors in the whole economy and provides economic arguments both on the supply side (e.g., economies of scale, scope and density; transaction costs) as well as on the demand side (e.g., trust in institutions; universal basic services; willingness to accept changes) in favor of resource efficiency. Compared to extractive and financialized business models, the FE production has major environmental advantages, especially if connected to public and not-for-profit economic activities. Though FE production is certainly a necessary condition for biodiversity conservation, it is not per se a sufficient strategy. The foundational economy is also embedded in natural processes; thus, respective institutional, legal and economic frameworks are needed to limit the environmental impacts of FE.

Economies of scope in data aggregation: Evidence from health data

Abstract We argue that research universities are best understood as regional systems of learning rather than stand-alone organizations. We introduce the concept of the university complex, a regional agglomeration of multiple universities whose complementarities and competition jointly shape knowledge production, talent attraction, and local spillovers. Using comparable indicators across U.S. Metropolitan Areas and selected global regions, we show that multi-university complexes outperform single-university regions on measures of scientific output and exhibit more diverse specialization profiles. We also show that universities in complexes do not empirically trade-off between economies of scale and economies of scope. These results contribute to the regional innovation systems literature by showing that ‘ivory towers’ are deeply regionalized.

ABSTRACT We examine whether auditors’ knowledge of clients’ related industries impacts audit quality and audit fees. Identifying related industries based on the Input–Output “Use Table” from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, we construct an absolute, nonrelative measure to capture auditors’ knowledge in their clients’ related industries. Our results show that a greater level of knowledge in related industries is associated with higher audit quality and lower audit fees after controlling for the auditor's expertise (specialization) in the client's industry. Further analyses indicate that the quality effects are more salient for an auditor who is not an expert in the client's industry, whereas the fee effects are prevalent across focal client engagements. The evidence suggests that non‐specialist auditors’ cross‐industry knowledge developed via economic links can, to some extent, substitute for specialization in the client industry. In view of advanced technologies that spur increasing interdependence between industries, our findings deliver an important message: Auditors can improve audit efficiency and offer higher quality audits by expanding economies of scope and leveraging their knowledge across clients’ interrelated industries.

The number of published health economic analyses, especially economic evaluations, has rapidly expanded globally since the 1990s, and costs are an essential component of such studies. Cost is a general term that refers to the value of the resources/inputs used to produce a good or service. However, within health economics, there are several different types of costs (such as financial, economic, unit, average, etc.). The terminology and application of these cost types often differ, leading to inconsistencies in the health economics literature. These inconsistencies create challenges in comparing studies and hinder the use of health economic analyses to effectively inform policy decisions. This paper aims to provide an up-to-date overview of the cost types, key cost terms, and definitions of different cost measures used within health economics, while highlighting key inconsistencies in the literature. We also discuss common adjustments made to cost data, such as accounting for inflation, discounting, and currency conversions, as well as the influence of economies of scale and scope on cost estimates. We highlight that the different definitions/categories for the different types of costs are not mutually exclusive and that the type of cost that should be used will depend on the purpose of the study, highlighting recommendations of what to do in practice where relevant. The content was tailored to be relevant across both high-income and LMIC contexts.

The wide use of the cloud in the healthcare field has brought about the redesigning of EMR (Electronic Medical Records) storage, accessibility and managing. While standing out as the best option, the cloud majorly offers the following among others: ability to scale, cost savings, and Interoperability. It also carries with it some downsides: particularly with the legal aspects, regulatory and the overall security which becomes increasingly complex as HIPAA legislation comes into play. For cloud-based healthcare systems to follow the HIPAA there is a need to forerun with the formalization of a Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) between cloud service providers (CSPs) and those large healthcare systems. Based on whether they are established, this thesis will evaluate the legal consequences of BAAs, analysing if they are enforceable contracts under the federal common law or if there is an easier way to ensure they exist (forcing the parties to really read and understand them). This work further investigates the impact of or roles played by BAAs in assigning liability, defining responsibilities, and reinforcing policies with regards the health’s record safety in the cloud infrastructure. It also solves the burden of delivering and maintaining the same infrastructure platforms required by entities, heightening the automation or efficiency, whether economies of convergence and scope

Agriculture and its allied activities contribute to the primary sector in India and act as the basis for the country’s economy. Available agricultural landholdings are scattered as multiple plots across the country. Land fragmentation has led to problems achieving economies of scale and economies of scope; lower productivity, efficiency, and modernization; loss of biodiversity; and little scope for mechanization and technology. FPOs are small clusters of farmers who collaborate to enhance their bargaining strength through collective procurement, processing, and marketing efforts. To enhance the performance of FPOs at the grassroots level, the engagement of cluster-based business organizations (CBBOs) is vital. Millet FPOs are similar to voluntary farmer groups that are involved in the cultivation and promotion of millets. IIMR-promoted millet FPOs were selected purposively for the present study as they are involved in millet cultivation and farming. A total of 450 millet farmers from 15 FPOs and 3 states were randomly chosen for this action research study. The present research identified 10 key factors and collected farmers’ opinions toward member participation in millet FPOs using interpretive structural modeling. The ISM approach provided a clear understanding of how the selected factors interconnect hierarchically with each other as foundational drivers and dependent outcomes. The results from the MICMAC analysis demonstrated that foundational interventions, such as post-harvest technology availability (V2) and knowledge transfer by KVKs (V5), directly support higher-level objectives. Intermediate factors like economies of scale (V1) and market and credit linkages (V3) transform these services into operational advantages, while the outcome factors of business planning (V8), FPO branding (V7), and bargaining power (V9) emerge as dependent variables. The model demonstrates that V2 catalyzes improvements across the production, market, and institutional domains, cascading through intermediate enablers (V1, V4, V5, V6) to strengthen outcomes (V3, V7, V8, V9, V10). This hierarchy demonstrates that investing in post-harvest technology and complementary extension services is critical for building resilient millet FPOs and enhancing member participation.

ABSTRACT To overcome the undesirably broad degree of discretion that policy makers currently have in choosing between alternative definitions of the key sectors to be targeted by industrial policies, we propose a new sectoral taxonomy that groups sectors according to three specific attributes. The first attribute is technological potential, namely the knowledge and opportunity pathways of industries that are embedding cumulative learning regimes, economies of scale and scope, and disruptive technological and organizational innovations. The second attribute is employment potential, namely the potential to create jobs, measured via employment multipliers derived from Input–Output analysis. The third attribute is how essential are the needs satisfied, with specific reference to those sectors meant at the provision of global commons (e.g. healthcare, social services, education), and that are subject to the process of progressive privatization. We conclude by proposing an agenda for industrial policy in Italy, identifying three specific sectors of intervention, namely the pharmaceutical, automotive and care sectors.