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Overview

Broadly, my studies are organized along two parallel research streams. The first one, developed in my dissertation, aims to propose a more dialogic vision of category-based evaluation, where language is presented as an active force that actors who are atypical within a given context - with respect to traits, features, characteristics, and behaviors - can leverage to influence how audiences interpret and make sense of them. More specifically, my research illuminates how individuals and organizations who do not comply with categorical standards can actively mobilize linguistic and structural narrative features to influence the evaluative process and mitigate against a negative evaluation. I primarily explore these dynamics in the context of platform-mediated marketplaces, studying crafters that operate on Etsy, the largest online digital marketplace for handmade items.

 

In familiarizing myself with the context, my attention was caught by the profound power asymmetries characterizing the relationship between platforms and the constellation of entrepreneurs populating their ecosystems. My second line of work, thus, is more phenomenon-based, and it seeks to capture, unpack, and frame from a conceptual standpoint some of the underlying dynamics of Platform Economy. My research advances a novel perspective that extends and enriches our understanding of entrepreneurship and strategy in the age of platforms, showing that while digital platforms create tremendous businesses opportunities, they also engender profound power asymmetries that constrain the firms dependent upon them and alter their competitive landscape.

Overview

Publications

Platform-Dependent Entrepreneurs: Power Asymmetries, Risks, and Strategies in the Platform Economy

Published in the Academy of Management Perspectives

Co-Authored with Martin Kenney

Online digital platforms organize and mediate an ever-increasing share of economic and societal activities. Moreover, the opportunities that platform-mediated markets offer not only attract enormous numbers of entrepreneurs, but also support the growth of entire ecosystems of producers, sellers, and specialized service providers. The increased economic and business significance of digital platforms has attracted an outpouring of studies exploring their general impact on entrepreneurial outcomes. Yet, this research has largely overlooked the power imbalance that entrepreneurs experience as members of the platform ecosystem and provided little guidance on how this enormous population of firms should compete within these ecosystems. Our analysis suggests that the conditions of engagement for platform entrepreneurs are so different from traditional entrepreneurship that these entrepreneurs are more usefully termed “platform-dependent entrepreneurs” (PDEs). Drawing upon Emerson’s power-dependence theory, we show that the power imbalance at the heart of the relationship between the platform and its ecosystem members is intrinsic to the economics and the technological architecture of digital platforms. We undertake a conceptual analysis of the sources of this power asymmetry, and we unravel the novel types of risk and uncertainty that emanate from this imbalance. Further, we explore the strategies that PDEs are developing to mitigate their dependence on these platforms. Finally, our study provides a framework for policy makers that are considering regulating platform-organized markets.

Pub

Working Papers

Something cool about platforms and complementors
(Title Withheld)

Revise & Resubmit at the Journal of Management Studies
Co-Authored with Martin Kenney and Andrew Hargadon

Recent research underscores that as digital platforms have ascended to become powerful organizational forms shaping diverse markets, they have started revealing their own inherent weaknesses. While this body of work has deepened our comprehension by identifying specific value architecture failures, it has largely overlooked a group of emerging actors addressing these issues through specialized services offered to complementors. This paper introduces the concept of the "Second-Order Ecosystem" (SOE), which refers to the collective of independent actors providing resources and services to support platform complementors in mitigating these failures. We expound on the origins, relevance, and functions of SOEs and provide a classification of their services. Furthermore, we theorize how the activities of SOEs can have manifold impacts on the platform, either strengthening, destabilizing, or eroding its value architecture. Interestingly, while SOEs assist complementors in addressing platforms’ endemic issues, their actions can accelerate the system’s failure when they promote complementors’ autonomy instead of integration into the platform. We conclude by identifying future research directions aimed at fostering a broader understanding of the complexity and dynamism of complementors’ agency, platforms’ strategic decision-making, and ecosystem evolution.  governance failures as the theoretical anchoridg to the platform ecosystem conversation.

WP
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