Digital power resources (DPR): the political economy of structural and infrastructural business power in digital(ized) capitalism

IF 3.2 2区经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS

Socio-Economic Review Pub Date : 2022-10-21 DOI:10.1093/ser/mwac059

Michael Kemmerling, Christine Trampusch

引用次数: 4

Abstract

Studies on digitalization and business power tend to focus on digital platform firms. In contrast, we argue that data, digital technologies and digital infrastructures create novel digital power resources (DPR) for firms throughout sectors. DPR can be structural, that is, rooted in data and digital technologies, and infrastructural, that is, rooted in digital infrastructure. We propose indicators and apply them to a sample of 120 large firms from the USA, UK, France and Germany, active in five sectors. We find that firms from all sectors control DPR but the sectoral distribution varies depending on the national political–economic context. Lastly, we demonstrate the analytical value added of our concept by explaining variation in business preferences and strategies toward data sovereignty and data-sharing regulation in the German automotive sector. Our DPR concept improves our understanding of why and how business seeks to influence (digital) policies and politics in digital(ized) capitalism in general.

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数字权力资源（DPR）：数字资本主义中结构和基础设施商业权力的政治经济学

对数字化和商业力量的研究往往集中在数字平台公司。相比之下，我们认为数据、数字技术和数字基础设施为整个行业的企业创造了新的数字电力资源（DPR）。DPR可以是结构性的，也就是植根于数据和数字技术，也可以是基础设施，也就是根植于数字基础设施。我们提出了指标，并将其应用于来自美国、英国、法国和德国的120家大公司的样本，这些公司活跃于五个行业。我们发现，所有部门的公司都控制着DPR，但部门分布因国家政治经济背景而异。最后，我们通过解释德国汽车行业在数据主权和数据共享监管方面的商业偏好和策略的变化，展示了我们概念的分析附加值。我们的DPR概念提高了我们对商业为什么以及如何在数字化资本主义中影响（数字化）政策和政治的理解。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Socio-Economic Review Multiple-

CiteScore

6.80

自引率

10.80%

发文量

期刊介绍： Originating in the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE), Socio-Economic Review (SER) is part of a broader movement in the social sciences for the rediscovery of the socio-political foundations of the economy. Devoted to the advancement of socio-economics, it deals with the analytical, political and moral questions arising at the intersection between economy and society. Articles in SER explore how the economy is or should be governed by social relations, institutional rules, political decisions, and cultural values. They also consider how the economy in turn affects the society of which it is part, for example by breaking up old institutional forms and giving rise to new ones. The domain of the journal is deliberately broadly conceived, so new variations to its general theme may be discovered and editors can learn from the papers that readers submit. To enhance international dialogue, Socio-Economic Review accepts the submission of translated articles that are simultaneously published in a language other than English. In pursuit of its program, SER is eager to promote interdisciplinary dialogue between sociology, economics, political science and moral philosophy, through both empirical and theoretical work. Empirical papers may be qualitative as well as quantitative, and theoretical papers will not be confined to deductive model-building. Papers suggestive of more generalizable insights into the economy as a domain of social action will be preferred over narrowly specialized work. While firmly committed to the highest standards of scholarly excellence, Socio-Economic Review encourages discussion of the practical and ethical dimensions of economic action, with the intention to contribute to both the advancement of social science and the building of a good economy in a good society.