The Evolution of Research on Industry Platforms

Industry platforms relying on digital technology are now a widely studied topic in various academic disciplines. These companies include several of the most valuable businesses in the world. They have attracted considerable attention not only from researchers, but also from the business media and government regulators and policy-makers because of their extensive and rising market power as well as social and political influence. Although there is a large and growing body of research on these organizations, several questions remain. What we know from platform research and what we need to know more about in the future are the subjects of this essay.