The Paradox of Market Power Abuse in Open API Context: Evidence from China’s Car-Hailing Platforms

• In Event: The (Un)Promise of Enterprise 3.0: Data Mining, Data Analytics and Market Innovations in the Global South

Abstract

Globally, open Application Programming Interface (API) context offers the essential channel of various data resource exchange between the online platform and the terminal user. API is also a junction that is operated by the market allocation between society and technology. However, the market power abuse of online platform has been emerging since a large scale of personal data resource aggregation via open APIs. This research is trying to reveal the relationship between the market power abuse and the open API context by empirical analysis of China’s car-hailing platforms. This research is attempting to construct a relationship model of the multi-sided market of the car-hailing platform by examining the API characteristic within the decompilation source code of the application (App). Further, this research discusses the API structure and allocation mechanism between car-hailing platforms. Base on the empirical analysis, we have found that the API within the open market context is an essential device to enhance market power by allocating personal data resource of the car-hailing market. This research is a preliminary empirical study for further discussion of regulation and policy-making of the online platform. This research also offers a vivid depicting of the relationship of car-hailing platforms that based on personal data resource transfer for multiple stakeholders of the construction of the platform economy.

Authors

• Lei Huang, Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development

• Yandong Zhao, School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China