IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/elmark/v30y2020i3d10.1007_s12525-019-00331-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

From platform dominance to weakened ownership: how external regulation changed Finnish e-identification

Author

Listed:
  • Anar Bazarhanova

    (Aalto University)

  • Jesse Yli-Huumo

    (Aalto University)

  • Kari Smolander

    (Aalto University
    Lappeenranta University of Technology)

Abstract

Background There is substantial interest among scholars in digital platforms and the ecosystems around them. Digital platforms are open, continuously evolving, sociotechnical structures that can be sensitive to various changes. Aim We take one-step further and investigate the post-dominance phase of platforms. The electronic identification (eID) ecosystem in Finland provides a good example of ecosystem transformation due to external changes from EU and national regulation. Method We engage in an extensive case study of a nation-wide monopolistic eID platform. We first take a retrospective view to understand the historical context and then examine in detail how an external driver leads to changes in the ecosystem. Results We explicate the platform evolution process, from a phase of dominance with centralized control structures to a more federated governance approach. We find that the introduction of intermediaries between the platform and its users contributes to a weakening of the dominant platform owners. Conclusion This finding that platforms can transform into industry infrastructures has an important implication for our understanding of the dynamics underlying digital platforms.

Suggested Citation

  • Anar Bazarhanova & Jesse Yli-Huumo & Kari Smolander, 2020. "From platform dominance to weakened ownership: how external regulation changed Finnish e-identification," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 30(3), pages 525-538, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:elmark:v:30:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s12525-019-00331-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s12525-019-00331-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12525-019-00331-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12525-019-00331-4?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kevin J. Boudreau & Andrei Hagiu, 2009. "Platform Rules: Multi-Sided Platforms as Regulators," Chapters, in: Annabelle Gawer (ed.), Platforms, Markets and Innovation, chapter 7, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Mark Armstrong, 2006. "Competition in two‐sided markets," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 37(3), pages 668-691, September.
    3. David Tilson & Kalle Lyytinen & Carsten Sørensen, 2010. "Research Commentary ---Digital Infrastructures: The Missing IS Research Agenda," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 21(4), pages 748-759, December.
    4. Mark Armstrong Author-Email: mark.armstrong@ucl.ac.uk Author-Workplace-Name: University College of London, 2006. "Competition in Two-Sided Markets," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 37(3), pages 668-691, Autumn.
    5. Panos Constantinides & Ola Henfridsson & Geoffrey G. Parker, 2018. "Introduction—Platforms and Infrastructures in the Digital Age," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(2), pages 381-400, June.
    6. Kazan, Erol & Tan, Chee-Wee & Lim, Eric T.K & Sørensen, Carsten & Damsgaard, Jan, 2018. "Disentangling digital platform competition: the case of UK mobile payment platforms," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 86345, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    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. Medaglia, Rony & Eaton, Ben & Hedman, Jonas & Whitley, Edgar A., 2022. "Mechanisms of power inscription into IT governance: lessons from two national digital identity systems," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108207, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Nguyen, Phong Thanh & Nguyen, Linh Thi My, 2022. "Understanding platform market value through decentralization governance — An integrative model from signaling and mechanism design theory," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    3. Laurin Arnold & Jan Jöhnk & Florian Vogt & Nils Urbach, 2022. "IIoT platforms’ architectural features – a taxonomy and five prevalent archetypes," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(2), pages 927-944, June.
    4. Simon Michalke & Lisa Lohrenz & Christoph Lattemann & Susanne Robra-Bissantz, 2022. "Exploring engagement, well-being, and welfare on engagement platforms: Insight into the personal service sector from the DACH region," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(4), pages 2429-2444, December.
    5. Rainer Alt, 2020. "Electronic Markets on business model development," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 30(3), pages 405-411, September.
    6. Carolina Costabile & Jon Iden & Bendik Bygstad, 2022. "Building digital platform ecosystems through standardization: an institutional work approach," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(4), pages 1877-1889, December.
    7. Konrad Degen & Timm Teubner, 2024. "Wallet wars or digital public infrastructure? Orchestrating a digital identity data ecosystem from a government perspective," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 34(1), pages 1-25, December.

    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. Andreas Hein & Maximilian Schreieck & Tobias Riasanow & David Soto Setzke & Manuel Wiesche & Markus Böhm & Helmut Krcmar, 2020. "Digital platform ecosystems," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 30(1), pages 87-98, March.
    2. Zeng, Jing & Mahdi Tavalaei, M. & Khan, Zaheer, 2021. "Sharing economy platform firms and their resource orchestration approaches," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 451-465.
    3. Jabbour, Chady & Rey-Valette, Hélène & Maurel, Pierre & Salles, Jean-Michel, 2019. "Spatial data infrastructure management: A two-sided market approach for strategic reflections," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 69-82.
    4. Wu, Mian & Liu, Yulong & Chung, Henry F.L. & Guo, Shoujia, 2022. "When and how mobile payment platform complementors matter in cross-border B2B e-commerce ecosystems? An integration of process and modularization analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 843-854.
    5. Jingtao Yi & Jinqiu He & Lihong Yang, 2019. "Platform heterogeneity, platform governance and complementors’ product performance: an empirical study of the mobile application industry," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-20, December.
    6. Mosterd, Lars & Sobota, Vladimir C.M. & van de Kaa, Geerten & Ding, Aaron Yi & de Reuver, Mark, 2021. "Context dependent trade-offs around platform-to-platform openness: The case of the Internet of Things," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    7. repec:bre:wpaper:45784 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Julia Rothbauer & Gernot Sieg, 2013. "Public Service Broadcasting of Sport, Shows, and News to Mitigate Rational Ignorance," Journal of Media Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1), pages 21-40, March.
    9. Alexander Matros, 2006. "Optimal Mechanisms for an Auction Mediator," Working Paper 202, Department of Economics, University of Pittsburgh, revised Jan 2006.
    10. Marc Ivaldi & Catherine Muller-Vibes, 2018. "The differentiated effect of advertising on readership: evidence from a two-sided market approach," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 363-376, September.
    11. Aslan, Fatma & Haouel, Chourouk & Nemeslaki, Andras & Somogyi, Robert, 2021. "Direct network externalities and dynamics of two-sided platforms," 23rd ITS Biennial Conference, Online Conference / Gothenburg 2021. Digital societies and industrial transformations: Policies, markets, and technologies in a post-Covid world 238006, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    12. De Fraja, Gianni & Sákovics, József, 2012. "Exclusive nightclubs and lonely hearts columns: Non-monotone participation in optional intermediation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 618-632.
    13. David Bardey & Luigi Siciliani, 2021. "Nursing‐homes' competition and distributional implications when the market is two‐sided," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 472-500, May.
    14. Christos Genakos & Tommaso Valletti, 2011. "Testing The “Waterbed” Effect In Mobile Telephony," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 9(6), pages 1114-1142, December.
    15. Jonathan Levin, 2011. "The Economics of Internet Markets," Discussion Papers 10-018, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    16. Rochet, Jean Charles & Tirole, Jean, 2008. "Tying in two-sided markets and the honor all cards rule," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 1333-1347, November.
    17. Marleen Marra, 2024. "Estimating and Auction Platform Game with Two-Sided Entry," Working Papers hal-03393068, HAL.
    18. David Flath, 2016. "Resale Price Maintenance by Japanese Newspapers," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 67(4), pages 441-473, December.
    19. Christian Jaag & Urs Trinkner, 2008. "Pricing in Competitive Two-Sided Mail Markets," Chapters, in: Michael A. Crew & Paul R. Kleindorfer (ed.), Competition and Regulation in the Postal and Delivery Sector, chapter 10, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    20. Gawer, Annabelle, 2014. "Bridging differing perspectives on technological platforms: Toward an integrative framework," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1239-1249.
    21. Frank Mueller‐Langer & Richard Watt, 2021. "Optimal pricing and quality of academic journals and the ambiguous welfare effects of forced open access: A two‐sided model," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(8), pages 1945-1959, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Industry platforms; Platform ecosystems; Platform evolution; Platform dominance; Digital infrastructrues;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights
    • L - Industrial Organization

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:spr:elmark:v:30:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s12525-019-00331-4. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.