Investigating Governance Mechanism of Multi-sided Platforms in a Down Trodden Economy: A Case Study Analysis

Abstract

The study is conducted in the backdrop of struggling economy of Pakistan where digital ecosystem faces peculiar governance challenges with respect to operations of Multi-sided platforms (MSPs). These platforms allow users to create transactions and behave like a regulator to implement governance rules for the interacting parties. A thematic analysis is conducted through semi-structured interviews based on a theoretical framework. Various dimensions used for thematic analysis comprise of decision rights between interacting parties, governance controls and agreement on commercial terms. Findings reveal that an economy like Pakistan poses governance challenges to the digital industry related to level of technological know-how, lack of payment options and weak system of conflict resolution. Strong interdependence of interacting parties is identified as pivotal in determining governance level of a MSP, therefore a support mechanism is recommended for service providers to play their role in close liaison with the platform.