Digital platforms and development: a survey of the literature

ABSTRACT The digital economy has led to significant socio-economic transformations in all aspects of our society and livelihoods. While there is a growing literature on the effect of digital platforms on development, none consolidates the available evidence from a development perspective. In this systematic literature review, we grouped the available literature into three main themes and critically synthesize and analyse the role of digital technology and digital platforms on the development of the modern economy. To enable the inclusion of a wide array of published papers, we allowed for relevant quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods studies globally. This approach allows us to reflect on the role of digital platforms for development more broadly as well as discuss opportunities for future research.