Jean Tirole

Matchmakers: The New Economics of Multisided Platforms

by David S. Evans and Richard Schmalensee  · 23 May 2016  · 383pp  · 81,118 words

required reading, from the economics and MBA student to the entrepreneur looking at building a platform to any reader curious about how our economy evolves.” —JEAN TIROLE, Chairman, Toulouse School of Economics; Winner, 2014 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences “Matchmakers will be mandatory for anyone building or investing in multisided platforms—in

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do it, and also why most matchmaker start-ups sputter and die. The Discovery of Multisided Businesses In 2000, our colleagues Jean-Charles Rochet and Jean Tirole, working at the University of Toulouse in the southwest of France, made a discovery that is still reverberating through economics departments and business schools. Over

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now call these businesses multisided platforms because some of them actually facilitate interactions between more than two types of customers, as we will soon see. Jean Tirole received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2014 for a number of important accomplishments, including his pioneering contributions to the new economics of

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’t have to pay for making transactions. 17. “OpenTable Terms of Use,” http://www.opentable.com/info/agreement.aspx. 18. See Jean-Charles Rochet and Jean Tirole, “Platform Competition in Two-Sided Markets,” Journal of the European Economic Association 1, no. 4 (2003). As is increasingly common in academic economics, their paper

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Advantage,” Strategic Management Journal 9, Special Issue: Strategy Content Research (1988). 6. “Google Ngram Viewer,” https://books.google.com/ngrams. 7. Jean-Charles Rochet and Jean Tirole, “Platform Competition in Two-Sided Markets,” Journal of the European Economic Association 1, no. 4 (2003). 8. This discussion is based largely on Andrei Hagiu

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demand in order to build participation on that side. We hasten to point out that this is not a general prescription. Jean-Charles Rochet and Jean Tirole, “Platform Competition in Two-Sided Markets,” Journal of the European Economic Association 1, no. 4 (2003). 18. We are ignoring costs for now to keep

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mention or even remember everyone who has contributed to this book. We have to start, though, with our friends and colleagues Jean-Charles Rochet and Jean Tirole, who shared an early draft of their pioneering paper on multisided platforms with us and who have been a source of inspiration and ideas ever

The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity

by Tim Wu  · 4 Nov 2025  · 246pp  · 65,143 words

to successful economies. In this matchmaking function lies much of the value in a platform. In the language of platform economics popularized by French economist Jean Tirole, the platform exists to bring two “sides” of a market together.[2] The more buyers and sellers a platform can muster, the more valuable it

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Square Encyclopaedia Britannica, s.v. “agora,” accessed June 7, 2024, https://www.britannica.com/​topic/​agora. BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 1 Jean-Charles Rochet and Jean Tirole, “Platform Competition in Two-Sided Markets,” Journal of the European Academic Association 1, no. 4 (2003). BACK TO NOTE REFERENCE 2 George A. Akerlof, “The

The Inner Lives of Markets: How People Shape Them—And They Shape Us

by Tim Sullivan  · 6 Jun 2016  · 252pp  · 73,131 words

what makes a platform tick. Platform Builder as Internet Cop The economist who did the most to formalize our understanding of two-sided markets is Jean Tirole, a Frenchman who won the Nobel Prize in 2014.10 Within economics, Tirole is known for his superhuman productivity and, relatedly, his incredible clarity of

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out his ideas. At the Toulouse School of Economics, where he has worked since 1996, graduate students joked that there must be a dozen little Jean Tiroles hidden in his basement writing the manuscripts, given the rate at which they appeared. Tirole wrote the book, quite literally, on industrial organization, the field

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in the contract, you can be sure it’d come up the next time the grocer and its suppliers get together to do business. 6. Jean Tirole and Jean-Charles Rochet convey this point more precisely in a 2006 article where they show that two-sided markets are only necessary when the

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economist at the University of Zurich. 11. Paul Samuelson, Economics (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1988; first published 1948). 12. Binyamin Appelbaum, “Q. and A. with Jean Tirole, Economics Nobel Winner,” The Upshot, New York Times, October 14, 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/10/15/upshot/q-and-a-with

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-jean-tirole-nobel-prize-winner.html. 13. His precise definition goes somewhat further than this and is framed in terms of whether the level of exchange depends

Platform Revolution: How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy--And How to Make Them Work for You

by Sangeet Paul Choudary, Marshall W. van Alstyne and Geoffrey G. Parker  · 27 Mar 2016  · 421pp  · 110,406 words

.2 And the theory was mentioned as part of the 2014 Nobel Prize awarded to one of the other originators of two-sided market economics, Jean Tirole.3 Achieving the right balance among the complex factors involved in two-sided market pricing isn’t easy. Netscape, one of the pioneers of the

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a whole will benefit when regulatory capture is eliminated—and that this requires the elimination of most government regulation of business. Jean-Jacques Laffont and Jean Tirole (the latter the 2014 winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics) extended Stigler’s analysis using an agency perspective, making the point that “principals,” like

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earning attractive profits through sales of the goods or services they provide to the other side of the market.24 Along with other authors, including Jean Tirole, this line of research in two-sided networks has overturned the conventional wisdom and required regulators to retool their predation tests to incorporate network effects

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of Information Product Design,” Management Science 51, no. 10 (2005); Eisenmann, Parker, and Van Alstyne, “Strategies for Two-Sided Markets.” 3. Jean-Charles Rochet and Jean Tirole, “Platform Competition in Two-Sided Markets,” Journal of the European Economic Association 1, no. 4 (2003): 990–1029. 4. Rob Hof, “Meetup’s Challenge,” Businessweek

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. Stigler, “The Theory of Economic Regulation,” Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science 2, no. 1 (Spring 1971): 3–21. 10. Jean-Jacques Laffont and Jean Tirole, “The Politics of Government Decision-Making: A Theory of Regulatory Capture,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 106, no. 4 (1991): 1089–1127. 11. Conor Friedersdorf, “Mayors

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/2015/08/uber-vs-piketty.html. 13. Andrei Shleifer, “Understanding Regulation,” European Financial Management 11, no. 4 (2005): 439–51. 14. Jean-Jacques Laffont and Jean Tirole, Competition in Telecommunications (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000). 15. Ben-Zion Rosenfeld and Joseph Menirav, “Methods of Pricing and Price Regulation in Roman Palestine in

The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom

by Yochai Benkler  · 14 May 2006  · 678pp  · 216,204 words

: Perseus Publishing, 2001). 19. Elinor Ostrom, Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). 20. Josh Lerner and Jean Tirole, "The Scope of Open Source Licensing" (Harvard NOM working paper no. 02-42, table 1, Cambridge, MA, 2002). The figure is computed out of the

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thereby lose self-esteem and reduce effort, or to resent him and resist the offer. A similar causal explanation is formalized by Roland Benabou and Jean Tirole, who claim that the person receiving the monetary incentives infers that the person offering the compensation does not trust the offeree to do the right

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motivation is nothing new. We now have a substantial literature documenting its importance in free and open-source software development projects, from Josh Lerner and Jean Tirole, Rishab Ghosh, Eric Von Hippel and Karim Lakhani, and others. Neither is the public goods nature of information new. What is new are the technological

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theory, see Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan, Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior (New York: Plenum, 1985). 34. Roland Benabou and Jean Tirole, "Self-Confidence and Social Interactions" (working paper no. 7585, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, March 2000). 35. Truman F. Bewley, "A Depressed Labor

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: Perseus Publishing, 2001). 19. Elinor Ostrom, Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). 20. Josh Lerner and Jean Tirole, "The Scope of Open Source Licensing" (Harvard NOM working paper no. 02-42, table 1, Cambridge, MA, 2002). The figure is computed out of the

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theory, see Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan, Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior (New York: Plenum, 1985). 34. Roland Benabou and Jean Tirole, "Self-Confidence and Social Interactions" (working paper no. 7585, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, March 2000). 35. Truman F. Bewley, "A Depressed Labor

Against Intellectual Monopoly

by Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine  · 6 Jul 2008  · 607pp  · 133,452 words

of new ideas may not be adequately compensated otherwise, and this is one way to provide additional compensation. As Joseph Schumpeter, in the words of Jean Tirole, puts it, “If one wants to induce firms to undertake R&D one must accept the creation of monopolies as a necessary evil.”9 This

Open for Business Harnessing the Power of Platform Ecosystems

by Lauren Turner Claire, Laure Claire Reillier and Benoit Reillier  · 14 Oct 2017  · 240pp  · 78,436 words

redoubled their efforts to research platforms, a relatively new field of economics known as ‘multisided markets’ only first formalized in 2003 by French Nobel economist Jean Tirole. We are most definitely standing on the shoulders of giants, and this book would not have been possible without the insights and stories from countless

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formalization’ is very recent. The underlying economics of such businesses were first set out in a 2003 scholarly article by 2014 economic Nobel Prize winner Jean Tirole.15 His seminal work was primarily focused on market dynamics and antitrust concerns rather than the management of platform businesses themselves. Since then, new platform

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closely at platform business models while trying to understand how firms such as Microsoft could sustainably offer free software.9 Shortly after, JeanCharles Rochet and Jean Tirole published a seminal paper on the economics of card platforms in 2002. Their research proposed a new economic model of the price relationships used on

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, the products and services they offer are often close substitutes to existing ones. Notes 1 In the context of platform businesses, Jean-Charles Rochet and Jean Tirole, ‘Two-Sided Markets: A Progress Report’, The RAND Journal of Economics, 35(3), 2006, 645–67, made an interesting observation about the different types of

Unelected Power: The Quest for Legitimacy in Central Banking and the Regulatory State

by Paul Tucker  · 21 Apr 2018  · 920pp  · 233,102 words

): 121–90. de Waal, James. “Depending on the Right People: British Political-Military Relations 2001–2010.” London: Chatham House, 2013. Dewatripont, Mathias, Ian Jewitt, and Jean Tirole. “The Economics of Career Concerns, Part II: Application to Missions and Accountability of Government Agencies.” Review of Economic Studies 66, no. 1 (1999): 199–217

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. Estlund, David. Democratic Authority. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008. ________. “Jeremy Waldron on Law and Disagreement.” Philosophical Studies 99 (2000): 111–28. Farhi, Emmanuel, and Jean Tirole. “Collective Moral Hazard, Maturity Mismatch, and Systemic Bailouts.” American Economic Review 102, no. 1 (2012): 60–93. Fawcett, Edmund. Liberalism: The Life of an Idea

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, Jerry L. Creating the Administrative Constitution: The Lost One Hundred Years of American Administrative Law. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012. Maskin, Eric, and Jean Tirole. “The Politician and the Judge: Accountability in Government.” American Economic Review 94, no. 4 (2004): 1034–54. Mathews, Jud. “Proportionality Review in Administrative Law.” In

The Butterfly Defect: How Globalization Creates Systemic Risks, and What to Do About It

by Ian Goldin and Mike Mariathasan  · 15 Mar 2014  · 414pp  · 101,285 words

-Charles Rochet, 2010, “The Treatment of Distressed Banks,” in Balancing the Banks: Global Lessons from the Financial Crisis, ed. Mathias Dewatripont, Jean-Charles Rochet, and Jean Tirole (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press), 107–130, esp. 113. 47. Andrew G. Haldane and Robert M. May, 2011, “Systemic Risk in Banking Ecosystems,” Nature 469

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-Charles Rochet, 2010, “The Future of Banking Regulation,” in Balancing the Banks: Global Lessons from the Financial Crisis, ed. Mathias Dewatripont, Jean-Charles Rochet, and Jean Tirole (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press), 78–103. 80. The failure regarding Fortis Bank is discussed in Dewatripont and Rochet, 2010, 108. 81. Ibid. 82. Haldane

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Report of the National Commission on the Causes of the Financial and Economic Crisis in the United States (Washington, DC: U.S. Public Affairs); or Jean Tirole, 2010, “Lessons from the Crisis,” in Balancing the Banks: Global Lessons from the Financial Crisis, ed. Mathias Dewatripont, Jean-Charles Rochet, and

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Jean Tirole (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press), 10–77. 85. Dieter Kerwer, 2005, “Rules That Many Use: Standards and Global Regulation,” Governance 18 (4): 611–632. 86.

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-Charles Rochet. 2010. “The Treatment of Distressed Banks.” In Balancing the Banks: Global Lessons from the Financial Crisis, ed. Mathias Dewatripont, Jean-Charles Rochet, and Jean Tirole. Princeton, NJ: Prince ton University Press, 107–130. Diamandis, Peter H., and Stephen Kotler. 2012. Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think. New York

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, Jean-Charles. 2010. “The Future of Banking Regulation.” In Balancing the Banks: Global Lessons from the Financial Crisis, ed. Mathias Dewatripont, Jean-Charles Rochet, and Jean Tirole. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 78–103. Rodrigue, Jean-Paul, Claude Comtois, and Brian Slack. 2009. The Geography of Transport Systems. New York: Routledge. ———. 2012

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Press. Tirole, Jean. 2010. “Lessons from the Crisis.” In Balancing the Banks: Global Lessons from the Financial Crisis, ed. Mathias Dewatripont, Jean-Charles Rochet, and Jean Tirole. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 10–77. Topping, Alexandra. 2013. “Hannah Smith Suicide: MPs Call for Education in Social-Media Awareness.” Guardian, 7 August. Accessed

Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy

by Daron Acemoğlu and James A. Robinson  · 28 Sep 2001

: Norton. Fogel, Robert W., and Stanley L. Engerman (1974) Time on the Cross: The Economics of American Negro Slavery; Boston: Little, Brown. Fudenberg, Drew, and Jean Tirole (1991) Game Theory; Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Fukuyama, Francis (1992) The End of History and the Last Man; New York: Free Press. Galor, Oded, and

Markets, State, and People: Economics for Public Policy

by Diane Coyle  · 14 Jan 2020  · 384pp  · 108,414 words

Good Economics for Hard Times: Better Answers to Our Biggest Problems

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Platform Capitalism

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The Bankers' New Clothes: What's Wrong With Banking and What to Do About It

by Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig  · 15 Feb 2013  · 726pp  · 172,988 words

Radical Markets: Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society

by Eric Posner and E. Weyl  · 14 May 2018  · 463pp  · 105,197 words

Economists and the Powerful

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Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics

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The Measure of Progress: Counting What Really Matters

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Economics Rules: The Rights and Wrongs of the Dismal Science

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The Future of Capitalism: Facing the New Anxieties

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The Tyranny of Metrics

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Revolution Française: Emmanuel Macron and the Quest to Reinvent a Nation

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The Man From the Future: The Visionary Life of John Von Neumann

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Liars and Outliers: How Security Holds Society Together

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Adam Smith: Father of Economics

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Working in Public: The Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software

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The Price of Time: The Real Story of Interest

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Virtual Competition

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Coding Freedom: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Hacking

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We-Think: Mass Innovation, Not Mass Production

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After the Gig: How the Sharing Economy Got Hijacked and How to Win It Back

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Custodians of the Internet: Platforms, Content Moderation, and the Hidden Decisions That Shape Social Media

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Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry

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Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce Knowledge

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Thinking in Bets

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Laziness Does Not Exist

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Who Gets What — and Why: The New Economics of Matchmaking and Market Design

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The Middleman Economy: How Brokers, Agents, Dealers, and Everyday Matchmakers Create Value and Profit

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The Price of Everything: And the Hidden Logic of Value

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Straight Talk on Trade: Ideas for a Sane World Economy

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Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

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To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism

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Narrative Economics: How Stories Go Viral and Drive Major Economic Events

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Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing

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The Age of Surveillance Capitalism

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