Li Ting, an Assistant Professor from Fudan University, will give a lecture entitled “The Strategic Role of First-party Supply in Two-sided Markets: Competitive Advantage or Seller Substitute?” at 14:00-15:30 on Jan 4th (Thursday).
The lecture is hosted by the School of Economics, Renmin University of China(RUC), and it will be held in Room 734 in the Main Building of Mingde.
Abstract: An increasing number of enterprises are acting as marketplaces to facilitate connections between buyers and sellers, while simultaneously offering their own products to buyers. In this study, we develop a tractable model that examines the motivations and implications of this practice. Our findings indicate that in the presence of positive inter-group externalities, platforms’ first-party supply is a complement to seller participation. Consequently, platforms have even greater incentives to invest in their own products to gain a competitive advantage compared to one-sided markets. We also show that allowing platforms to offer their own products or services can be socially desirable.
Introduction: Li Ting is an Assistant Professor from School of Economics of Fudan University. Her main research areas are industrial economics and health economics.
