Data Scale,Data Scope and Platform Enterprise Performance:From the Perspective of Digital Platform Mergers and Acquisitions
As an indispensable digital infrastructure for the operation of modern economy and society,digital platforms have become the core asset of platform enterprises with the massive data generated by user activities carried by them.The phenomenon of data-driven mergers and acquisitions(M&A)by platform enterprises to acquire data resources through acquisitions or mergers of other platforms is becoming increasingly common to expand market size and layout future development and has attracted widespread attention from scholars and relevant regulatory authorities at home and abroad.Moreover,with the intensification of market competition and saturation of demand,the focus of platform competition is gradually shifting from incremental user competition to stock user competition,and the M&A model is gradually enriched from"interbank M&A"in the same business field to"cross-border M&A"involving different business fields."Acquiring data"is an important strategic means for platform enterprises to achieve rapid expansion and technological upgrading.However,the scale and scope of data that can be obtained through different M&A models,and the degree of interaction within or between platforms vary.How they affect the market performance of platform enterprises is a key issue that needs to be addressed in optimizing M&A strategies.Starting from the perspective of digital elements,this article conducts a basic analysis of the characteristics,facts,and economic logic of platform enterprise M&A.Taking advertising-dominated platforms as the research object,a two-stage hotelling game model is constructed to compare and analyze the impact of interbank and cross-border M&A on the market performance of platform enterprises.Empirical tests are conducted using relevant data on listed advertising-dominated platform enterprises from 2009 to 2021.The study also analyzes the M&A case of Baidu company.Research has found that different M&A models can achieve economies of scale,scope,and network effects in data to varying degrees.Both interbank M&A led by"data scale economy"and cross-border M&A led by"data scope economy"are conducive to improving the market performance of platform enterprises.Similar data are more easily integrated,forming a"data scale network effect,"while different types of data are not easily integrated,forming a"data scope network effect."Compared to cross-border M&A,interbank M&As have a more significant impact on the market performance of platform enterprises.The potential contributions of this article are as follows:First,by analyzing the market performance of data-driven platform M&A based on the bilateral market theory framework,it enriches the economic research content of platform M&A.Existing research on platform M&A mostly focused on analyzing the interaction and impact between users,and there is still a lack of in-depth discussion on the important role of data as a core element in platform M&A analysis.Second,based on the economies of scale,scope,and network effects of data,the fundamental motivations and economic essence of interbank M&A,especially cross-border M&A,are more fully revealed.There has been a lot of research on interbank M&A,but there is still insufficient research on cross-border M&A in the digital economy field.Third,it collects and organizes financial data on data-driven platform M&A events and advertising revenue and verifies the market performance results and differences in different M&A models through empirical analysis and case studies.The existing research methods mainly rely on theoretical models and case analysis,and there is little empirical research due to data limitations.This article provides sufficient empirical evidence for the market performance impact of data-driven platform M&A.
Digital PlatformsIntra-industry M&AInter-industry M&AData Economies of ScaleData Economies of Scope
万方数据
