IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v46y2014i1p168-185.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Technological Change Affects Power Relations in Global Markets: Remote Developers in the Console and Mobile Games Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Rachel Parker
  • Stephen Cox
  • Paul Thompson

    (University of Strathclyde Business School, 16 Richmond Street, Glasgow Gl 1XQ, Scotland)

Abstract

This paper focuses on Australian development firms in the console and mobile games industry in order to understand how small firms in a geographically remote and marginal position in the global industry are able to relate to global firms and capture revenue share. This paper shows that, while technological change in the games industry has resulted in the emergence of new industry segments based on transactional rather than relational forms of economic coordination, in which we might therefore expect less asymmetrical power relations, lead firms retain a position of power in the global games entertainment industry relative to remote developers. This has been possible because lead firms in the emerging mobile devices market have developed and sustained bottlenecks in their segment of the industry through platform competition and the development of an intensely competitive ecosystem of developers. Our research shows the critical role of platform competition and bottlenecks in influencing power asymmetries within global markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Rachel Parker & Stephen Cox & Paul Thompson, 2014. "How Technological Change Affects Power Relations in Global Markets: Remote Developers in the Console and Mobile Games Industry," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(1), pages 168-185, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:46:y:2014:i:1:p:168-185
    DOI: 10.1068/a45663
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a45663
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/a45663?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David J. TEECE, 2008. "Profiting from technological innovation: Implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Transfer And Licensing Of Know-How And Intellectual Property Understanding the Multinational Enterprise in the Modern World, chapter 5, pages 67-87, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. C. Dolan & J. Humphrey, 2000. "Governance and Trade in Fresh Vegetables: The Impact of UK Supermarkets on the African Horticulture Industry," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 147-176.
    3. Khalid Nadvi, 2004. "The effect of global standards on local producers: a Pakistani case study," Chapters, in: Hubert Schmitz (ed.), Local Enterprises in the Global Economy, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Tod Rutherford & John Holmes, 2008. "'The flea on the tail of the dog': power in global production networks and the restructuring of Canadian automotive clusters," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 8(4), pages 519-544, July.
    5. Timothy J. Sturgeon, 2002. "Modular production networks: a new American model of industrial organization," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(3), pages 451-496, June.
    6. Jennifer Johns, 2006. "Video games production networks: value capture, power relations and embeddedness," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 6(2), pages 151-180, April.
    7. Jason Dedrick & Kenneth L. Kraemer & Greg Linden, 2010. "Who profits from innovation in global value chains? A study of the iPod and notebook PCs," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 19(1), pages 81-116, February.
    8. Alexander Cole, 2008. "Distant Neighbours: The New Geography of Animated Film Production in Europe," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(6), pages 891-904.
    9. Khalid Nadvi, 2008. "Global standards, global governance and the organization of global value chains," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 323-343, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Patrick Cohendet & David Grandadam & Chahira Mehouachi & Laurent Simon, 2018. "The local, the global and the industry common: the case of the video game industry," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(5), pages 1045-1068.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. McWilliam, Sarah E. & Kim, Jung Kwan & Mudambi, Ram & Nielsen, Bo Bernhard, 2020. "Global value chain governance: Intersections with international business," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(4).
    2. Joachim Henkel & Alexander Hoffmann, 2019. "Value capture in hierarchically organized value chains," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 260-279, April.
    3. Blyde, Juan S. & Volpe Martincus, Christian & Molina, Danielken, 2014. "Fábricas sincronizadas: América Latina y el Caribe en la era de las Cadenas Globales de Valor," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 6668, November.
    4. Pipkin, Seth & Fuentes, Alberto, 2017. "Spurred to Upgrade: A Review of Triggers and Consequences of Industrial Upgrading in the Global Value Chain Literature," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 536-554.
    5. Linqing Liu & Shiye Mei, 2016. "Visualizing the GVC research: a co-occurrence network based bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 109(2), pages 953-977, November.
    6. Broekhuizen, Thijs L.J. & Lampel, Joseph & Rietveld, Joost, 2013. "New horizons or a strategic mirage? Artist-led-distribution versus alliance strategy in the video game industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 954-964.
    7. Emanuele Brancati & Raffaele Brancati & Andrea Maresca, 2017. "Global value chains, innovation and performance: firm-level evidence from the Great Recession," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(5), pages 1039-1073.
    8. Roger Strange & John Humphrey, 2019. "What lies between market and hierarchy? Insights from internalization theory and global value chain theory," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(8), pages 1401-1413, October.
    9. Baldwin, Carliss Y. & Bogers, Marcel L.A.M. & Kapoor, Rahul & West, Joel, 2024. "Focusing the ecosystem lens on innovation studies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(3).
    10. Davide Consoli & Pier Paolo Patrucco, 2011. "Complexity and the Coordination of Technological Knowledge: The Case of Innovation Platforms," Chapters, in: Handbook on the Economic Complexity of Technological Change, chapter 8 Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Anna Giunta & Domenico Scalera & Francesco Trivieri & Jeffrey B. Nugent & Mariarosaria Agostino, 2011. "Firm Productivity, Organizational Choice and Global Value Chain," Working Papers 2011R09, Orkestra - Basque Institute of Competitiveness.
    12. Catherine Dolan & John Humphrey, 2004. "Changing Governance Patterns in the Trade in Fresh Vegetables between Africa and the United Kingdom," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(3), pages 491-509, March.
    13. Neda Trifković, 2014. "Food Standards and Vertical Coordination in Aquaculture: The Case of Pangasius from Vietnam," IFRO Working Paper 2014/01, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    14. Wipo, 2017. "World Intellectual Property Report 2017 - Intangible Capital in Global Value Chains," WIPO Economics & Statistics Series, World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division, number 2017:944, April.
    15. Vincent FRIGANT, 2011. "Egyptian pyramid or Aztec pyramid: How should we describe the industrial architecture of automotive supply chains in Europe?," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2011-27, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    16. Dedrick, Jason & Kraemer, Kenneth L., 2015. "Who captures value from science-based innovation? The distribution of benefits from GMR in the hard disk drive industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(8), pages 1615-1628.
    17. Christina Niforou, 2015. "Labour Leverage in Global Value Chains: The Role of Interdependencies and Multi-level Dynamics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(2), pages 301-311, August.
    18. Robert C. Bird & Vivek Soundararajan, 2020. "The Role of Precontractual Signals in Creating Sustainable Global Supply Chains," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 81-94, June.
    19. Peter J. Buckley & Roger Strange & Marcel P. Timmer & Gaaitzen J. de Vries, 2020. "Catching-up in the global factory: Analysis and policy implications," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 3(2), pages 79-106, June.
    20. Fujita, Mai, 2013. "Exploring the sources of China's challenge to Japan : models of industrial organisation in the motorcycle industry," IDE Discussion Papers 419, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:46:y:2014:i:1:p:168-185. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.