講演概要

This paper suggests that we are in a period of fundamental changes in the organization of economic and social activities driven by the emergence of cloud computing, increasing power of algorithms, and analysis of big data. Boosters of these changes have suggested that a "Sharing" or "Collaborative" Economy will result, while others less convinced of its beneficence of the changes have suggested that instead what is emerging is a Gig Economy replete with a new Precariat. We, on the other hand, believe the organizing feature of these changes are online digital platforms.
Digital platforms such as Google Android Play, Apple App store, Uber, Airbnb, YouTube, and others are having an increasingly powerful impact on the ways in which people interact, the nature of work, commerce, and, perhaps, in the longer term, even the structure of the economy. I present a comprehensive overview of the various types of online digital platforms that have emerged and examine various implications of each them. Digital platforms are diverse in function and structure. However, their fundamental feature is that they provide significant power to the platform owner.