Classroom Companion: Business

Further Reading
Shapiro, C., & Varian, H. R. (1999). Information rules: A strategic guide to network economy. Harvard 
Business School Press.
 
Chapter 12 · Lock-In and Switching Costs

---

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature 
Switzerland AG 2021
H. Øverby, J. A. Audestad, Introduction to Digital Economics, 
Classroom Companion: Business,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78237-5_13
193
Digital 
Monopolies 
and Oligopolies
Contents
13.1 
 Definition of Market
Types – 194
13.2 
 Formation of Monopolies – 198
13.3 
 Formation of Oligopolies – 201
13.4 
 Conclusions – 205
 References – 206
13

---

194
13
 
n Learning Objectives
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
5
Identify which types of markets a digital enterprise is simultaneously serving.
5
Explain how digital monopolies are formed.
5
Perform strategic planning of a digital service based on market type.
13.1 
 Definition of Market Types
Before examining the formation of monopolies and oligopolies in the digital econ-
omy, we start with a short review of some basic market types. The market type refers 
to the sales of a particular good or service and not the company selling it. The com-
pany may be present in several market types offering different products in each type 
of market. In multisided markets (see 
7
Chap. 
10
), interactions exist between the 
different markets served by the platform, making the business model complex.