Alternative paths for the growth of e-commerce

摘要

Electronic commerce promises to be the drive behind a new wave of economic growth. Yet, the actual achievement of the prospected benefits and their allocation will depend on the Features of the business models driving the diffusion of the new sales channel. The paper Rejects the existence of a deterministic relation between e-commerce technological features And the structure of future electronic markets. Accordingly, alternative growth paths are Explored and different scenarios are sketched depending upon the prevailing nature of the Economic relations among the involved actors.