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Large digital platforms face intense scrutiny over self-preferencing, which involves a platform provider favoring its own offers over those of competitors. In online marketplaces, also called retail or e-commerce platforms, much of the academic and regulatory debate focuses on determining whether the marketplace provider gives preference to its own private labels, such as “Amazon Basics” or Walmart’s “Great Value” products. However, we outline, both conceptually and empirically, that self-preferencing can also occur through other dimensions of vertical integration – namely, retailing and fulfillment.

This article contributes by conceptualizing three dimensions of vertical integration in online marketplaces – private labels, retailing and fulfillment. Then, two studies empirically assess (1) which of the 20 most-visited global online marketplaces vertically integrates which dimension and (2) which share of 600 m available offers is vertically integrated to which degree in eleven international Amazon marketplaces.

The majority of the leading marketplaces vertically integrate all three dimensions, implying ample opportunities for self-preferencing. Across international Amazon marketplaces, only 0.02% of available offers consist of an Amazon private-label product. However, Amazon is a retailer for around 31% and fulfills around 38% of all available offers in its marketplaces. Hence, self-preferencing on Amazon can occur most frequently through retailing and fulfillment but comparatively infrequently through private-label offers. Still, these shares differ substantially by country – every second offer is vertically integrated in the USA, but only one in ten in India.

Most of the self-preferencing debate often focuses on private-label products. Instead, we present large-scale empirical results showing that self-preferencing on Amazon could occur most often through retailing and fulfillment because these channels affect much larger shares of offers. We also measure the variation of these shares across countries and relate them to regulatory environments.

This chapter reviews some of the technical background relating to the designs of digital infrastructures for financial services. Such technical background could be useful to the understanding of the design choices that the central banks and pertinent regulators face when developing or promoting open digital infrastructures for financial services. First, the chapter reviews modularity and interoperability in the design of digital infrastructure. The chapter then examines three broad architectural models of open digital infrastructures: decentralized, centralized and distributed. The chapter ends with some lessons learnt from the different architectural models that have been implemented in practice.

This chapter reviews new technologies, new types of players and new types of financial products that together are fundamentally affecting supply and demand dynamics in the financial sector and contributing to the emerging digital financial landscape. The aim of this chapter is to set a common understanding on the underlying forces of digital disruption in the financial sector before exploring the challenges to monetary and financial stability that are arising. In later chapters, the book will examine how central banks might deal with the challenges and help shape the emerging digital financial landscape.

This chapter introduces what a digital ID is, why it is important, how it works, the design choices, as well as how central banks can collaborate with other stakeholders in promoting digital ID infrastructures for use in digital financial services.

This chapter first reviews open banking, a key data sharing initiative promoted by various central banks and regulators around the world to help nudge competition, innovation and better financial services for consumers in the digital age. The chapter then reviews various models and approaches as well as key success factors of open banking, as well as the extensions of open banking into open finance in various jurisdictions.

Although digital platforms have become important to organizations and society, little is known about how platforms evolve over time. This is particularly true for early-stage platforms provided by entrepreneurial firms competing in nascent markets. This study aims to investigate the relationship between a platform provider's mission and the evolution of its digital platform.

This study conducted an exploratory, multi-case study of startups in the emerging health/fitness wearables market over the period 2007 to 2016.

This study emerged two organizational mission constructs – consistency and specificity – and two evolutionary dynamics of digital platforms – unity and evolution rate. It also considered unity and evolution rate in terms of features created by the platform provider and features connected by external parties. This study found relationships between aspects of mission consistency and platform unity and identified relationships between aspects of mission specificity and platform evolution rates.

This study formalized findings into a set of theoretical propositions, thereby enriching the understanding of the relationship between organizational mission and digital platform evolution in nascent markets. This study provides new constructs and relationships that can be tested and refined in future research.

This chapter reviews possible regulatory updates needed to address the four general challenges arising from digitalization of financial services, regardless of the business models of the financial services providers. These challenges are customers' data rights, artificial intelligence (AI) ethics, cybersecurity and financial exclusion.

This study aims to identify the determinants of customer disengagement (CD) and negative customer engagement (NCE) behaviours following service failure.

This study distributed a survey on negative service experiences to 404 customers in Vietnam and analysed the data using structural equation modelling.

Based on the findings, this paper developed a comprehensive model of the determinants of CD and NCE behaviours. CD manifests as “neglect”, while NCE manifests as vindictive, third-party and online complaints and negative word of mouth. The key drivers of CD and NCE are negative expectancy disconfirmation and perceived injustice, mediated by customer outrage. A novel finding is that self-efficacy and risk-taking traits enhance NCE behaviours. Vietnamese customers tend to adopt less confrontational NCE behaviours.

The findings provide brand managers with insights into unfavourable customer responses to service failure, including CD and NCE behaviours. Customers in Vietnam were predominantly found to disengage. Fulfilling the firm’s promises and treating customers fairly are paramount for preventing customer outrage, CD and NCE.

This study identifies the determinants of CD and NCE, namely, disconfirmation of service quality expectations and perceived injustice, in the context of an emerging market.

The objective of this research is to identify and prioritize the critical factors that influence the adoption of blockchain technology within the banking sector.

A well-known theoretical framework, the “Technology Organization Environment (TOE),” was chosen to analyze what criteria and sub-criteria affect blockchain adoption in the banking sector after a thorough assessment of the prior literature. Following that, 3 evaluation criteria and 14 sub-criteria were selected and verified using expert opinion. A survey design was created, and data for the study has been collected from various information technology (IT) managers/officers in the banking sector. A fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (Fuzzy-AHP) was then used to meet the purpose of the research.

The study identified that the organizational dimension is the most significant criteria for blockchain adoption in the banking sector, followed by the environmental dimension. In contrast, the technological dimension is the least influential criterion. Clientele pressure, IT resources, financial resources, pressure from competitors and relative advantage are the most influential sub-criteria for blockchain adoption.

This study provides valuable insights to bank managers, blockchain and IT developers, third-party service providers and policymakers. For instance, adopting the same blockchain platform is easier for both large and small banks for banking operations by using third-party service provider. At the same time, banks should have the banks' own core team to implement the blockchain-based systems or to have control over the third-party service providers during the adoption stage.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, no empirical studies have used a holistic organizational context to understand the factors influencing the adoption of blockchain technology from traditional to blockchain-based banking systems.