BlueSky Thinking Summary

Robert Bray and his colleagues addressed the problem of disintermediation - where users of digital platforms sidestep the platforms to avoid fees-by analyzing data from a housecleaning app in Moscow.

Despite economic theory predicting high returns to incentivizing disintermediation, they found no evidence of its occurrence.

Indeed, using geolocation-tracking data, they were able to track housecleaners who did not significantly stray from the jobs scheduled by their application to process the transactions privately.

This unexpected result, therefore, appears to show that, contrary to theoretical expectations, users do derive sufficient value from the convenience and security of the platforms even in instances when additional fees are added.

The findings demonstrate that, in reality, theoretical models may not always align with practical behavior and, as such, maybe wide-ranging countermeasures against disintermediation are not as necessary for the platforms.

This study goes against the current economic assumptions and further emphasizes the need for an actual behavioral study to refine theoretical models.

Understanding dynamics on either side of the divide becomes very important at a time when there is an increase in these digital platforms, both for users and providers.