Platform Economy and Product Liability: Old Rules for New Markets

According to statistics, Amazon is one of the most-used online marketplaces worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns to reduce the spread of the virus have shown how critical online marketplaces are to enable e-commerce and keep commercial transactions alive, especially in such times when regular commerce is disrupted. However, when we buy online, we have no chance of examining whether the product works or whether it is defective. If something goes wrong when we buy a product from a third-party seller through Amazon, as consumers, we then face the challenge of trying to file a claim for the damages that might have arisen due to the defectiveness of the product. This article explores Amazon’s position in this scenario, with reference to the case law from both US and EU courts and regulations, not solely from the point of view of Product Liability Law, but also according to the E-Commerce Directive liability.

Do Creators of New Markets Meet SDGs? Analysis of Platform Companies

The platform economy is the embodiment of the activities carried out by its influential players, which by their very nature are new markets, facilitating the matching of suppliers and customers. A new market entails access to or even joint use of underused assets, provision of new working places, and simplification of human life with online transactions and services, which serves the assumption that the platform economy is able to undertake sustainable development and may meet a number of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) introduced in 2015. First, this paper aims to study whether the platform business model entails sustainability as its integral core concept. Second, it attempts to assess if platform companies from two selected industries—ride-sharing services and EdTech—meet SDGs comparably better than their predecessor linear companies in transportation and education. The study carries out an empirical analysis of eight companies. The results indicate that platform companies demonstrate a relatively lower commitment to SDGs compared to linear transnational firms, which can be explained by the level of maturity of platform companies and their still mostly non-public nature.

Mapping the Collaborative Platform Economy Business Practice

This study aims to develop a typological configuration that characterizes the full spectrum of collaborative platform economy business practice in the real world. The analysis is conducted on the basis of a large-scale data set which contains information on 1,335 representative platforms in more than 60 countries on five continents, covering almost all collaborative platform economy business practices mentioned in academic journals and public media. Leveraging the k-means clustering method, an empirical typology comprising seven categories of collaborative platform economy business practice is proposed: collaborative support platform, resource supply platform, authentic C2C platform, C2C mutualized mobility platform, hybrid service platform, B2C service platforms, collaborative finance platform. In addition, with the help of operating status data of the collaborative platform economy, a cross-comparative analysis was also carried out on the category differences and geographic differences.

Payment Systems as a Driver for Platform Growth in E-Commerce

This chapter visits some of the fundamental concepts from platform economics, network effects, and network externalities. Further on, it discusses definitions of two-sided and multi-sided markets, how they are treated as business models. These concepts are further compared to the concept service ecosystem. A case of a payment service provider whose business model contributes to the growth of e-commerce is included. The purpose is to tease out how research on platforms has developed since e-commerce was in its infancy. The fundamental concepts developed in network economics are still valid and have been translated into different fields with a focus on value creation, information, and interaction. How platforms within platforms spur each other's growth is an area that has the potential to reach new insights on the platform economy.

Digital Transformation and the Evolution of the Platform Economy

This chapter provides an overview of the evolution of the platform economy through the lens of digital transformation and transit from Industry 3.0 (I3.0) to Industry 4.0 (I4.0). The platform economy belongs to both I3.0 and I4.0 and goes through two cycles of digital transformation within them. In I3.0, the starting point of the platform economy is the digitization of social and commercial interactions over user-generated content. The resulting issues of trust and regulation of user interactions find solutions in new business models based on online reputation systems and algorithmic regulation. The specificity of I4.0 is the tendency to platform products, homes, factories, and cities through broad digitization of interactions between humans and things, and things and things. For the platform economy, the new cycle of digital transformation in the context of I4.0 means creating business models based on the ultimate customization of both the production and consumption of product-as-platforms and the rental of digital product models.

Overview, Framework, and Research Propositions of Secondhand Exchange in the Platform Economy

This chapter describes secondhand exchange in the context of the platform economy. Consumers have long engaged in reselling and buying used items as an alternative to purchasing firsthand items, but researchers have little understanding of how these exchanges are different theoretically from traditional consumption patterns. This chapter presents a clear definition of secondhand exchange and separates it from related concepts, including lateral exchange markets, the sharing economy, access-based consumption, and collaborative consumption. It is suggested that secondhand exchange and related consumer behavior in the platform economy can be understood by considering platform differences related to 1) when and how product ownership is transferred (i.e., direct and indirect), 2) the level of platform intermediation (i.e., low, moderate, or high), and 3) buyers' knowledge of reseller identity (i.e., unknown, obscured, and known). Research propositions are presented for these dimensions for each facet of the consumption process (i.e., buying, owning, and disposal).

This Thing of Social Media!

This chapter is about social media and its networking platforms and how they can run or develop a business in the financial sector. As a platform economy, this sector ranges from shadow banks such as mutual funds, leasing companies, brokers, and credit insurance companies to other money market mutual funds. Nevertheless, recent studies in this sector have only focused on the money market, thus creating a vacuum of how social media can run or develop the banking sector through this platform. The social media platform has transformed drastically from being a place for just interaction to buying and selling, forcing many businesses to register on one or two of these media to take advantage of the ever-growing market potentials they offer. However, it also comes with its challenges. This chapter highlights how to manage this medium for a successful business. The study collected data online from bank clients who ever used this platform to transact financial business.