The Monopoly and Governance of the Platform Economy in the Digital Era

The platform economy has become a new engine and leading force for China's economic development.With the rapid development of super internet platforms, this field has drawn growing attention from attention of anti-monopoly authorities.The technical attributes and business characteristics of the platform economy endow those platforms with a "natural" monopoly advantage, and the quasi-public attributes of the internet platforms require anti-monopoly authorities to bear more monopoly governance responsibilities.This paper analyzes the difficulties in monopoly governance of the platform economy from the perspectives of anti-monopoly legislation, government regulation and global monopoly governance, and proposes several solutions and suggestions to improve the effectiveness of anti-monopoly governance and promote healthy development of the digital economic ecology.The solutions and suggestions include: focusing on building up technology-based regulatory capabilities, accelerating the legislation on data protection of data, and developing an anti-monopoly system based on the principle of giving priority to innovation.

Impact of COVID-19 on China’s Sharing Economy and its Outlook

This paper briefly summarizes the current situation of China’s Sharing Economy(SE)during the COVID-19 pandemic,then analyzes new challenges and opportunities that it currently faces in different fields,and expounds its role in China’s economic development in the future.Based on various data and findings,this paper finally points out the way forward for the Sharing Economy industry in China.

Gender Pay Gap in the Gig Economy

The rapid ascent of digital platforms and the gig economy has prompted concerns about the gender pay gap.The results show that in the gig economy,gender continues to be a crucial determinant of workers'earnings,with women earning 85%of what men earn on a monthly basis.Nevertheless,in comparison to the traditional waged employment during the same period,the gender pay gap in the gig economy has narrowed.While some gig jobs(e.g.,ride-hailing services,delivery services,online education)exhibit certain occupational segregation,women in gig economy work are no longer concentrated in low-paying roles,thereby challenging the occupational crowding hypothesis prevalent in traditional employment.In the gig economy,the vast majority of the gender pay gaps arise from factors within occupations,and occupational segregation only has a very limited impact on the earnings gap.Additionally,the gender pay gap among platform gig workers can be mostly explained by observable factors,which implies that compared to traditional employment,the gig economy exhibits a lower level of implicit gender discrimination in China.Finally,we investigate new factors that determine the gender pay gap in the gig economy.Women exhibit a stronger aversion to algorithmic control,a preference for job flexibility,and a tendency toward more isolated and less socially interactive work environmentsall of which serve to widen the gender pay gap that might have otherwise narrowed.The results of this research suggest that despite the criticisms surrounding the gig economy,it continues to exert a positive influence on China's labor market。

Incorporation of sticky information and product diversification into static game of open innovation

Platform economics has promoted open innovation through sufficient channels to reveal and exchange knowledge with experts or valued customers.However,innovation also suffers from information stickiness and product diversification risks.In order to design an innovation strategy on a platform,this study incorporated these risks into game models of open innovation and proposed strategies to promote open innovation and welfare through equilibrium analysis.On the basis of the literature analysis of these risks,stochastic pay-off functions were constructed to regulate and stabilize the knowledge exchange flows.From equilibrium analysis of the game models,we conclude that:1)stickiness and diversification are critical factors for open innovation on a platform;2)at the beginning,a broad search is necessary to acquire diverse knowledge;at the middle stage,regulation of knowledge exchange is critical to achieving equilibrium and higher profits;and 3)global welfare could be elevated through adjustment of knowledge size and friction of communication.