A bibliometric analysis of 30 years of platform research: Developing the research agenda for platforms, the associated technologies and social impacts

Platform markets have enormous economic significance in society and global economy, and platform research attracts scholars from different communities. In this paper, we conduct a bibliometric analysis of 3490 platform papers which appear in top business, economics, and management journals from 1990 to 2019. Influential journals, institutions, landmark papers, citation bursts are identified from the analysis. In addition to scholars from economics, strategy, and technology management communities, scholars from marketing, information systems, and operations management also participate in platform research. Moreover, the results indicate that the research focus of platform evolves from supply-side product development, product design and open innovation, goes through demand-side two-sided markets, and centers on sharing economy in recent years. The viewpoint of platform research experiences a conversion from a research object to a research context. We further develop a future research agenda for platforms, the associated technologies and social impacts. Our bibliometric analysis contributes to the literature by offering an objective and systematic overview of platform research.

Automated summary

Platform research has attracted scholars from various fields and the focus has shifted from product development to sharing economy. The concept of platform research has evolved from investigating the research object to exploring the research context.