Data Scale, Data Scope and Platform Enterprise Performance: Insights from Digital Platform M&As

Data is a key asset for digital platforms,and mergers and acquisitions(M&As)are an important way for platform enterprises to acquire it.The types of data obtained from intra-industry and cross-sector M&As differ,as does the extent to which they interact within or between platforms.The impact of such data on corporate market performance is an important question to consider when selecting strategies for digital platform M&As.Based on our research on advertising-driven platforms,we developed a two-stage Hotelling game model for comparing the market performance effects of intra-industry M&As and cross-sector M&As for digital platforms.We carried out an empirical test using relevant data from advertising-driven digital platforms between 2009 and 2021,as well as a case study on Baidu’s M&A activities.Our research discovered that intra-industry M&As driven by“data economies of scale”and cross-sector M&As driven by“data economies of scope”are both beneficial to the market performance of platform enterprises.Intra-industry M&As have a more significant positive effect on the market performance of platform enterprises because the same types of data are easier to integrate and develop the“network effect of data scale”.From a data factor perspective,this paper reveals the inherent economic logic by which different types of M&As influence the market performance of digital platforms,as well as policymaking recommendations for all digital platforms to select M&A strategies based on data scale,data scope,and the network effect of data.

Discussion of ‘Prior-based Bayesian Information Criterion (PBIC)’

We congratulate the authors for this engaging article.It gives us an opportunity to gaze at the idea of BIC and its generalisations.This article provides several important examples and insightful explorations of the issues of using BIC.To overcome the related problems,the article gives detailed steps on defining the proposed PBIC(PBIC*),and illustrates the use of them.

A grounded theory research on public librarians’ percep-tion of organizational cultures

This research is a case study of Shandong Public library with the application of a grounded theory to identify the perceived dimensions and the theoretical framework of organizational culture in the view of librarians.Research found two dimensions which were internal cultural perception and external cultural perception.In the internal cultural perception,there include two notion areas,which are career orientation and personal characteristics of the individual;in the external cultural perception,there include five notion areas,which are social environment,architecture,systems,tasks and leadership.The theoretical framework of mechanisms of public librarians’ perception of organizational cultures is constructed.The study found two mechanisms of the dynamic evolution of organizational culture of public libraries:the first is the mechanism of individual internalization of cultures,and the other is the mechanism of the person-culture fit.