A network approach to interoperability

讲座时间：2026年9月28日(星期一)下午2:30

讲座地点：南开大学经济学院高层1013会议室

主讲人：Dr.TEH TAT HOW

嘉宾简介：Dr. Teh is an assistant professor in economics at the Nanyang Technological University (Singapore). His research interests are platform economics, consumer search, industrial organization, and more generally applied microeconomic theory. His work has been published in leading academic journals such as RAND, AEJ-Micro, and GEB. He currently serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Industrial Economics.

摘要：We study how interoperability, modeled as a weighted network of connections among competing platforms with user externalities, affects equilibrium prices and welfare. By characterizing equilibrium prices as functions of the eigenvalues of the interoperability network, we derive optimal network configurations and show that industry-wide full interoperability maximizes total welfare and is also platform-optimal. When user externalities are weak, the price effects of interoperability are bounded relative to the direct user-benefit effect, implying that full interoperability is Pareto-optimal. In contrast, coalitional interoperability does not maximize total welfare but can be consumer-optimal when user externalities are strong, as interoperability within coalitions endogenously generates demand complementarities among their members while intensifying competition across coalitions. For the case of four platforms, we fully characterize the set of feasible combinations of profit and consumer surplus and identify the associated Pareto frontier. We further apply the framework to asymmetric competition between a leading platform and a competitive fringe. Overall, the welfare effects of interoperability depend critically on both the strength of user externalities and the configuration of interoperability within the industry.

主办单位

南开大学经济学院

南开大学国际经济贸易系

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