Platform firms

Our understanding of the role of platforms for workers and companies is still limited to the gig economy. We will look at the evolution of platform firms and the indirect effects by the entry of platform firms into the business models of established firms.

Guiding questions:

  • Which structural changes occur through the application and penetration of platform technologies in the value chains of manufacturing and industry-related services?
  • What impact do new technologies have on process innovation and restructuring in different industries (especially in the engineering/automobile industry as well as logistics/retail/e-commerce sectors)?
  • Which organisational forms of enterprise and employment are particularly compatible with the innovation process and facilitate the implementation of technology-driven innovation?

Project partners: John Zysman, UC Berkeley and Martin Kenney, UC Davis

Workshop

Work in the Digital Age: The challenges of platform firms. On March 16, 17 and 24, 2021, in cooperation with John Zysmann and Martin Kenney. Speakers include Juliet Schor, Annabelle Gawer, Koen Frenken and Martin Kenney. Workshop programme here [167 KB] .

Papers

Anke Hassel and Felix Sieker. 2021. When platform firms transform industries: the effect of Amazon on work in logistics in the US, Germany and the UK. January 2021.

Anke Hassel and Felix Sieker. 2021. Contested Terrain: three battlefields in which to study the digital economy. January 2021.