Publications
Publications
  • 2009
  • Chapter
  • Platforms, Markets and Innovation

Platform Rules: Multi-Sided Platforms As Regulators

By: Kevin J. Boudreau and Andrei Hagiu
  • Format:Print
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Abstract

This chapter provides a basic conceptual framework for interpreting non-price instruments used by multi-sided platforms (MSPs) by analogizing MSPs as "private regulators" who regulate access to and interactions around the platform. We present evidence on Facebook, TopCoder, Roppongi Hills, and Harvard Business School to document the "regulatory" role played by MSPs. We find MSPs use nuanced combinations of legal, technological, informational, and other instruments (including price-setting) to implement desired outcomes. Non-price instruments were very much at the core of MSP strategies.

Keywords

Price; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Multi-Sided Platforms; Strategy

Citation

Boudreau, Kevin J., and Andrei Hagiu. "Platform Rules: Multi-Sided Platforms As Regulators." In Platforms, Markets and Innovation, edited by Annabelle Gawer. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009.

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