Digital markets: formative components, regulation, challenges and insights from the EU Digital Markets Act

There has been very little policy or academic discussion or debate about the value of digital markets in the literature. Most debates in the literature focus on the large technological companies that operate in digital markets, but there are no discussions or debates in the literature about the value proposition and formative components of digital markets. This study examines digital markets, their formative components, regulation and challenges. It also presents a concise definition of “digital markets” and suggests a link between digital markets and digital financial inclusion. It analyses the regulation of digital markets, particularly the recent EU Digital Markets Act, and show that regulation focus mostly on large technological companies. The study also shows the benefits of digital market regulation for users of digital markets and the demerits of the large technological companies who own the world’s largest digital transactional platforms in digital markets. The criticisms of regulating large technological companies are also identified.