RT Journal Article
T1 Platform acquisitions, product imitation and openness
A1 Sánchez Cartas, Juan Manuel
AB Public authorities have shown concern about the possible harmful effects of platforms acquiring or imitating complementary services sold on their platforms. The effect of these practices on the restrictions on participation, development, or use of platform services (platform openness) has started to attract the attention of policymakers and researchers alike, but the evidence is still limited. We build a model that considers the trade-off that a monopoly platform faces when deciding whether to acquire or imitate a complementor and how such a decision influences openness and welfare. We show that a platform always has an incentive to acquire or imitate complementors. Which one is preferred depends on whether the increase in platform value (acquisition) offsets the market expansion effect (imitation). We find that acquisitions reduce openness and welfare but may generate more valuable complements while imitation increases openness and welfare but may harm third-party developers.
PB Springer
YR 2023
FD 2023-07-21
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/87340
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/87340
LA eng
NO Sanchez-Cartas, J. Manuel. «Platform Acquisitions, Product Imitation and Openness». Journal of Industrial and Business Economics 50, n.o 4 (diciembre de 2023): 765-80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40812-023-00277-x.
NO Conferencia de Rectores de las Universidades Españolas
NO Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España)
NO Springer Nature
DS Docta Complutense
RD 6 abr 2025