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Digital Marketplaces

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Abstract

Digital marketplaces represent a new and important organizational form in the economy. Since their emergence in the mid 1990’s, they have transformed many industries including accommodation, retail, and transportation. I start this entry by outlining the ways in which digital marketplaces differ from traditional firms. I then discuss three research areas relating to digital marketplaces. The first research area concerns the determinants of marketplace diffusion and its effects. The second concerns the economics of digital market design, with an emphasis on search and matching, pricing, and trust and safety mechanisms. The last research area is about policy issues prompted by digital marketplaces. I conclude by discussing new research topics relating to emerging technologies and continued marketplace growth.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Andrey Fradkin

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  1. Andrey Fradkin
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Correspondence to Andrey Fradkin .

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Section Editor information

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    Catherine Tucker

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© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

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Fradkin, A. (2018). Digital Marketplaces. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_3052

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