Signs of a network form of economic activity. Towards the theory of network economics Characteristic features of network economics

31.10.2023

Scientific publications (articles and monographs) with keyword network economy , published by the Creative Economy Publishing House (found: 21 for the period from 2005 to 2019).

13. Rodionova I.A., Gordeeva A.S.
// Issues of innovative economics. (No. 7 / 2011).
Knowledge and skills in using methods for calculating indicators and indices are required, allowing, if not fully, then to a significant extent, to assess, compare and contrast the situation in different countries and regions of the world from the position of readiness for the knowledge economy and managing the process of socio-economic development.
The article characterizes the close relationship between the human development index, the level of development and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and the economic prosperity of society. The positions of countries in rating tables based on indicators of ICT use are identified. The connection between the implementation of scientific and technical progress, the development of ICT and the economic development of countries around the world is revealed based on the formation of an innovative type of economy.

Rodionova I.A., Gordeeva A.S. The role of information technologies in the socio-economic development of the countries of the world // Issues of innovative economics. – 2011. – Volume 1. – No. 7. – p. 18-26. – url: .

20. Akimova E.N.
// Russian entrepreneurship. (No. 8 / 2010).
Exchange of information and sale of goods via the Internet, work in a remote access system have now become integral elements of economic activity. New forms of economic relations can contribute to the successful functioning of business and increase the efficiency of government regulation of both individual enterprises and the country’s economy as a whole.

Network economy

Network economy is economic activity carried out using electronic networks (digital telecommunications). Technologically, the network economy is an environment in which legal entities and individuals can contact each other regarding joint activities.

In English: Network economy

Synonyms: Digital economy, Electronic economy, Virtual economy

English synonyms: Digital economy, Electronic economy, e-Economy, Virtual economy

Finam Financial Dictionary.

See what “Network Economy” is in other dictionaries:

Economic activities carried out using electronic networks (digital telecommunications). Technologically, the network economy is an environment in which legal entities and individuals can contact each other regarding... ... Dictionary of business terms

network economy- an environment in which any company or individual, located anywhere in the economic system, can contact easily and at minimal cost with any other company or individual for collaboration, for trade, for transfer... ... Technical Translator's Guide

Network economy/NETWORKED ECONOMY- 1. Economy carried out using electronic networks. The basis of the network economy is network organizations. 2. An environment in which any company or individual located anywhere in the economic system can communicate easily and with... ... Explanatory dictionary on the information society and the new economy

An organization that uses network connections, relationships and technologies in production and business management. In English: Network organization See also: Network economy Financial Dictionary Finam... Financial Dictionary

Noun, g., used. compare often Morphology: (no) what? economy, why? economy, (see) what? economy, what? economics, about what? about economics; pl. What? economy, (no) what? economics, why? economics, (I see) what? economy, what? economies, oh... ... Dmitriev's Explanatory Dictionary

US Economy- (U.S. Economy) The US economy is the largest economy in the world, the locomotive of the world economy, determining its direction and condition. Definition of the US economy, its history, structure, elements, periods of growth and collapse, economic crises in America... Investor Encyclopedia

Economic reforms in Russia (1990s) Contents 1 Chronology 2 Price liberalization 3 Privatization 4 Results of reforms ... Wikipedia

Electronic (network, digital) economy is an environment that exists thanks to digital telecommunication networks (World Wide Web, Internet), in which entities can carry out any economic activity, as well as the economy, ... ... Wikipedia

- “New Economy” (neo-economics) economic infrastructure, characterized mainly by the predominance of intangible assets (services and technologies), and a decrease in the role of tangible assets. The new economy is an economy of knowledge, new... ... Wikipedia

Books

Network economy and network markets, Strelets I.A.. The manual is devoted to the problems of network economics and the development of network markets. The concepts of a network economy and a network good, the geography of the spread of new technologies, the significance of...
Information-network economy: structure, dynamics, regulation: Monograph, Dyatlov S.A.. The monograph is devoted to the characteristics of globalization processes, disclosure of the theoretical and methodological foundations and patterns of the formation of the information society and information-network...

On the one hand, new information technologies prove that the market system still contains many reserves that are not in demand even in countries with long-standing market traditions. On the other hand, they create fundamentally new economic conditions, transferring all types of market economic activities (from production to sales of products) into a new network environment, which acquires properties different from some properties of a market economy.

For example, under the influence of advanced information technologies the relationship between the real market and the free market model changes- theoretical abstraction of economic science. One of the most important features of an abstract free market is the presence of each participant in competition with a full volume of market information: demand, supply, prices, profit margins, etc. With the introduction of network information technologies, absolute completeness of information becomes a reality for market participants locked in a single network community, and this changes some of the rules of the game.

However, this phenomenon itself has not only not been studied, but also does not have a uniform interpretation among economists. In a report by the European Commission, global network economy(eng. networked economy) is defined as “an environment in which any company or individual, located anywhere in an economic system, can contact easily and at minimal cost with any other company or individual to work together, to trade, to exchange ideas and know-how or just for fun." R.I. Tsvylev connects the emergence of network features in a market economy with the development of information technology, which leads to the evolution of modern economic systems, the development of non-market regulatory mechanisms and network organizational structures. “As a result, a kind of industry-free, network economy emerges, based primarily on horizontal connections.” One of the points of view on this issue is that the network economy is “a qualitatively new form of economic order, which begins to displace hierarchical and market forms from serving economic relations in society.”

For example, the factors that determine the success of products in the market and in the network environment are different (Table 1.2). Although it is obvious that the above considerations can be fully applied only to the market of software products and information services, that is, to the market of digital products for which electronic communications are the natural environment of existence and transportation. At the same time, network features are, to one degree or another, characteristic of almost all types of economic activity, and their influence significantly increases with the development of telecommunications and the informatization of the economy.

Factor	Market environment	Network environment
Exceptionality	Refers to the ability of sellers to get consumers to become buyers.	The owner of the product is not able to exclude competitors from his segment by simple and cheap means. Electronic replication and delivery capabilities practically destroy the factors of uniqueness and territorial (geographic) exclusivity
Competitiveness	Provided by the presence of manufacturers performing the same operation at different costs	The cost of replication and delivery of digital products becomes close to zero and the same for all manufacturers. As a result, in a network environment, competitive differences between sellers in terms of costs for servicing additional orders disappear
Transparency	Means that consumers have a clear understanding of what they need and what is available sale	In many sectors of the economy, the transaction of purchasing goods does not end with the act of buying and selling, but means the emergence of a long-term relationship between the seller and the buyer. The implicit terms of these long-term relationships play an important role in determining the consumer value of a product.

Table 1.2. - Transformation of competitiveness factors
for digital products

The rapid development of telecommunications and clearly visible trends in the involvement of all forms of economic activity in work in a single information space force us to take a closer look at the network features inherent in the activities of any enterprise. When business activities are transferred to the Internet environment, information connections become direct economic connections, ensuring the movement of information, financial resources and goods through unified communication channels.

When talking about network information technologies, today we usually mean Internet technologies due to their mass distribution. However, network forms of conducting information and economic activities existed even before the advent of the Internet. Information technologies, as well as industrial or financial technologies, determine the means and form in which the joint activities of people are realized to achieve certain goals. In this sense, network information technologies have analogues in other areas of human activity. Industrial technologies and technological lines are well known, which combine the activities of individual workers, workshops or entire industries in the form of production chains. Already in the 20th century, financial technologies appeared that combine the cash flows of a large number of individuals and legal entities to implement joint commercial projects.

In recent years, new technologies have become a reality that combine information flows from a large number of entities to coordinate current and future activities to achieve common goals.

The scientific direction is based on this basis - economics of networks(eng. network economics), which explores the economic benefits of combining agents in various types of networks - transport, financial, information, etc.

Network features of economic activity are traditionally considered when analyzing enterprises and production processes organized along a network basis. These include transport, primarily railway, transportation, telecommunications enterprises, flexible automated production, etc. For enterprises in these sectors of the economy, network features are an integral part of the production cycle.

The concept of “network economy” is more general than network economics and refers to the study of network features and phenomena that occur in various situations. It turns out that the economic activities of enterprises operating in a market economy and a vertical form of management nevertheless have some features inherent in the network form of organization. When business activity is transferred to a single information space, network features become predominant. It is important to understand how network features of economic activity arise and manifest themselves.

Let's consider two characteristics of economic relations that arise between economic entities in the process of organizing the economic activities of an enterprise: complementarity and compatibility.

The requirement for additionality is most typical for vertically integrated processes. At the first level of the hierarchy, raw materials are produced, from which semi-finished products are then obtained, from which parts are assembled, and at the last level - the finished product. Each product at each stage of production adds new features to the product, ultimately turning it into a product (Fig. 1.2a). This scheme is valid not only for the production of material products, but also in the service sector and hierarchically organized financial transactions.

With a horizontal (network) organization of connections (Fig. 1.2c), the main property is compatibility, which makes it possible to select components when moving from one stage of the economic process to another. It is this property that allows you to vary the topology of the production chain, achieving maximum efficiency.

In a command-administrative economy, vertical integration is decisive, and when organizing economic activities, the property of complementarity prevails. In a network economy, the basis of economic relations is compatibility.

In market conditions (Fig. 1.2b), almost any form of economic relations carries the features of both complementarity and compatibility (Fig. 1.3). In practice, both characteristics interact with each other. For example, when organizing complementary production connections, an enterprise chooses between several suppliers (manufacturers) of intermediate products, focusing on their compatibility. Thus, it is compatibility that makes complementarity possible.

Rice. 1.2. - Forms of organizing economic relations
a) - vertical;
b) - arbitrary;
c) - horizontal

Let us consider the main features of the network form of organization and its interaction with market mechanisms.

Features of the network form are manifested both in the sphere of production and in the sphere of consumption. It has previously been shown that the most important manifestation of network properties is the increase in product value as the number of units sold increases. For traditional market thinking, this seems contradictory—value increases as demand is met.

However, the contradiction disappears if “number of goods sold” is replaced by “expected number of goods sold.” That is, the value of the product increases with the increase in the possible number of sales. (In the case of a network form of organization, the possible number of consumers is directly related to the size of the network.)

Rice. 1.3. - Manifestation of the properties of complementarity (P d) and
compatibility (P s)

This feature arises due to the fact that compatible connections of the network form of economic activity also have the property of complementarity. For enterprises in network industries, complementarity arises explicitly, since the network elements themselves are components, as a result of the combination of which the final product arises: telephone conversation, transportation, etc. If the network consists of n components, then the number of possible goods/services is n·(n - 1). Each new (n + 1)th element adds 2n new products/services, that is, it increases the consumer properties of the network.

For non-network sectors of the economy, network features appear indirectly, but they exist. In a sense, the entire market of commodity-money relations has network properties. The act of commodity exchange can be considered as a complex product, the creation of which requires the presence of two complementary products: “the desire to sell product X at price P” and “the desire to buy product X at price P.” Each of these specific products, taken separately (out of connection with others), makes no sense. Sets of sellers and buyers of product X form networks of compatible products.

Using various market models, it is possible to trace how network features manifest themselves at the macro level.

From the point of view of the perfect competition model, the value of product X increases with the number of products Y sold that are complementary to X, and vice versa. That is, the more Y is sold, the more X is sold. It follows that the more X is sold, the higher its value. A positive feedback arises, which should have led to an avalanche-like increase in sales, if not for the tendency of the market to decrease the demand curve.

Let us denote the market demand for the nth copy of a product, provided that the expected sale is n" copies, as p(n, n"). For the sake of greater generality, we should consider normalized values of n and n." The function p(n, n") is decreasing in the first argument (in accordance with the law of decreasing demand) and increasing in the second argument (as a consequence of the network effect).

Despite the fact that the market mechanism is a continuous process, a discrete model can be used to study it, choosing as the quantization period the time during which a short-term equilibrium manages to be established (the time during which transition processes that are essential for the problem under study end). In conditions of short-term market equilibrium, n -› n" and p(n, n") -› p(n, n). The function p(n, n) is a “snapshot” slice of a complex relationship taken during a specific period of time. Let's consider its properties.

For n = 1 (all possible quantity of goods sold) p(n, n) = 0. For n = 0 (zero expectation of demand) p(n, n) is also equal to 0. Since the function p(n, n) is positive and continuous (due to the nature of the processes described) and at least at one point is different from 0, then, therefore, it must have a maximum at some point n o = arg max (p(n, n)). An example of such a function is shown in Fig. 1.4.

Rice. 1.4. - Dependence of sales expectations on the size of the consumption network

From the point of view of forming a single information and economic space (IES) of an enterprise, selling a product (providing a service) to a new consumer means increasing the size of the network. That is, the value n can be considered as the number of elements involved in the network. Under conditions of perfect competition, the size of the network tends to n o . Creating such a network corresponds to marginal cost c o . Reducing marginal costs can be achieved both by moving to the left of point n o and to the right. A network with a number of elements less than n o is unstable, since the interests of network members are in conflict with the needs of the market p. A network with n > n o leads to a decrease in the need for network services and is therefore not profitable for it.

Thus, perfect competition limits the size of the network, which, given modern telecommunications capabilities, hinders the development of network services that are in demand by society.

Based on the model considered, one could assume that a monopolistic market with the ability of monopolies to influence consumer expectations would be more susceptible to the manifestation of network trends. However, the desire of monopolies to limit production is much stronger, and therefore the monopolistic market also does not meet the needs of the network organization.

An oligopolistic market also has the ability to influence consumer expectations. In conditions of product compatibility of oligopolistic enterprises, it is logical to assume that each enterprise provides its own increase in expectations, using the results of others as a given. Thus, N oligopolistic enterprises producing compatible products form a network. When N = 1, the oligopoly turns into a monopoly, and when N = infinity, it turns into perfect competition.

However, if the market also contains oligopolistic enterprises with incompatible products, then the network properties of such a more general model are manifested in the desire or reluctance of enterprises to use common standards.

Let the set of enterprises in the industry be defined as P = (P 1, P 2, ..., P N). A partition can be defined on this set
C = (C 1 , C 2 , …, C K ), C j є P such that the belonging of any two enterprises P i and P k to the subset C j means that they use common standards. Denoting the fact of using common standards as P i є P k, we can write:

The set of enterprises forming a subset Cj will be called a coalition. Partition C defines the coalition structure of the industry. When K = 1, all enterprises in the industry form a single coalition; when K = N, there is complete incompatibility of standards within the industry.

The choice of the optimal coalition structure depends on many factors. In the absence of cooperation and third-party payments, any enterprise that joins the coalition remains able to conduct economic activities in the market at the expense of its own income. In the absence of cooperation, but in the presence of third-party payments, enterprises distribute the benefits from the coalition arbitrarily - in order to attract new members of the coalition.

Members of the coalition, in the absence of cooperation, form a community, which is characterized by the characteristics of a distributed network.

The fundamental difference between the object of study of network economics and network economics is that within the framework of network economics, the premise is that the network belongs to one company or group of companies with common interests. Within the framework of the network economy, interacting network structures belonging to various agents of economic activity are considered, having their own goals, which may or may not coincide.

In order to understand how network properties manifest themselves in the activities of an enterprise at the micro level, let us first consider the simplest model. Let there be two types of products - X and Y, each of which is produced in modifications X 1, X 2, ..., X m and Y 1, Y 2, ..., Y n, respectively. Moreover, the consumer is interested in a composite product formed from one component of type X and one component of type Y. Thus, both products are related by the relation of complementarity. We will assume that the technologies are mature, there are no harmonization costs, price discrimination is not possible, and there are no asymmetric costs created by different standards.

Theoretically, there are mn different options for the final composite product X i Y j , i = 1, 2, …, m; j = 1, 2, …, n. Complementarity is realized when products X i and Y j are combined into one product without additional fitting and adaptation costs. This means that modifications X i and Y j must be compatible. The situation when m = 2 and n = 2 is presented in Fig. 1.5.

However, deciding whether all or part of its products are compatible with products from related industries is a matter of enterprise policy.

Rice. 1.5. - Product compatibility graph for vertical and horizontal connections

The issue of compatibility of products X i and Y j is decided depending on the share of product X i Y j in the total sales of enterprises. Compatibility of all products of type X with all products of type Y favorably affects demand by providing greater choice of the composite product, but increases competition between the components. That is, if the demand for a composite product is greater than for its components, enterprises tend to strive for product compatibility. Otherwise, enterprises are not interested in using uniform standards. In addition, eliminating compatibility can provide a business with greater flexibility when component prices change.

If enterprises producing, for example, products X 1 and Y 1 (see Fig. 1.5) are united by vertical links, then a compatibility conflict may arise due to the different share of components and the composite product in the sales of enterprises. The decision of one enterprise in favor of incompatibility (as requiring less costs) is imposed on another in the absence of additional leverage. However, in the case of vertical ties between two manufacturers, making a decision in favor of product incompatibility can never be beneficial to both parties at the same time.

So far we have assumed that any product of type X can be combined with any product of type Y. However, if complete substitutability does not exist among products of type X or type Y, then individual businesses can benefit from partial incompatibility.

More generally, when there are more than two products to be combined, the compatibility decision is significantly influenced by the consumer market's attitude toward the availability of a wide choice.

Let for two jointly used products X and Y there are two models of goods of type X (X 1 and X 2), produced by different enterprises, and several models of goods of type Y (Y 1, Y 2, ..., Y n), produced under monopolistic conditions competition. That is, the number of models of goods of type Y can vary due to the free entry of new manufacturers into the market. In case of compatibility, any product of type Y is combined with both X 1 and X 2 (Fig. 1.6a).

In case of incompatibility, each manufacturer of Y-products must produce two versions of each model, one compatible with X 1 and the other compatible with X 2 (Fig. 1.6b). Due to high fixed costs (all other things being equal), the number of producers of Y-products will be less than in the case of compatibility. Consequently, there will be fewer variations of the composite product on the market.

If the market is not sensitive to a decrease in the number of variants of a composite product, then for enterprises producing X-products, the situation of incompatibility is more profitable. And vice versa.

Rice. 1.6. - Product compatibility schemes in conditions of monopolistic competition

A striking example of the compatibility and complementarity of products from different industries is the production and distribution of software and hardware.

The presence of network features also affects the structure of the industry (meso level). Since in network conditions the number of goods sold increases its value, the enterprise is interested in the largest possible output. In such a situation, even monopolies that hold the exclusive right to technology take a seemingly paradoxical step - inviting competitors to the market. Monopolies are willing to sell licenses and even subsidize investments in order to increase the number of compatible products on the market. The emergence of new producers has both a market (competitive) and network effect. If network features are sufficiently characteristic of an industry, then the latter predominates.

Microsoft distributes its Windows operating system at a nominal price when installed by manufacturers or retailers on new computers. IBM, having released to the market a personal computer built on the principle of open architecture, opened access to everyone to the technology of producing computers of its standard. As a result, the markets of most countries are represented by just such personal computers. Sun is currently focusing on free distribution of software products. In particular, the free Java programming language developed by this company has become a practical standard for creating Internet applications. Moreover, this solution attracted thousands of enthusiasts to work on this software product, developing and improving the Java language also for free.

It should be noted once again that the market associated with computer technologies exhibits network features most clearly. The open architecture of personal computers, the life cycle of a software product, and their compatibility - all this contributes to the development of the network effect. Already today, industries such as the software and information technology industry operate on the border of the network and market economies. This means that enterprises in these industries are forced to conduct struggle for survival in two economic systems.

The economy of the 21st century is called the knowledge economy, post-industrial economy, information network, digital... However, the essence remains the same - scientific knowledge and information have now become not only one of the most important factors of production, but also the main factor of economic growth, the main source of stable sustainable development of society.

The widespread development of information technologies and their penetration into business in the last decades of the 20th century led to the formation of the Networks Economy, Electronic Business and Network Forms of Organization. Network economy is an economy carried out through electronic networks. The basis of the network economy is network technologies, communications and relationships, and network organizations. A network is an environment in which any company or individual, located anywhere in an economic system, can communicate easily and at minimal cost with any other company or individual to collaborate, trade, exchange ideas or know-how, or to satisfy their needs. .

The concept of "Network Economy" is often mentioned in combination with the word "global". A report prepared by the European Commission 1 defines the global network economy as “an environment in which any company or individual located anywhere in an economic system can communicate easily and at minimal cost with any other company or individual to work together to trade. , to exchange ideas and know-how or just for fun.” R.I. Tsvylev connects the emergence of a network economy with the development of information technologies, which leads to the evolution of economic systems, the development of non-market regulatory mechanisms and network organizational structures. “As a result, a kind of hopelessness arises.”

"See: Status Report on European Telework: Telework 1997. European Commission Report, 1997. http://www.eto.org.uk/twork/tw97eto/.

industry, network economy, based primarily on horizontal connections" 1 .

The information and network economy, in turn, contributes to the development of the globalization process. The modern knowledge-based economy is also called "new economy" or the knowledge economy (“knowledge industries”). The term “new economy” was introduced into scientific circulation by the American economist of the mid-20th century S. Kuznets. The category “new economy” is interpreted ambiguously in the scientific literature. The most common approach is that it is understood as production of goods and services using the latest or high technologies. Thus, Robert Gordon believes that an economy can be considered new if productivity growth and economic growth are achieved through high-tech sectors.

There is an understanding of the “new economy” as the production of goods and services using knowledge and information technology. The new economy in the narrow sense of the word is defined as the production of goods and services with the help of and for the Internet and its derivatives.

The large-scale application of ICT has brought about economic and social changes at the international, macro, micro and nano levels. This made it possible to reduce transaction costs for companies doing business on the Internet; increase market transparency (both buyers and sellers can easily compare offered prices with those of competitors); reduce barriers to entry into the market and reduce the importance of spatial and temporal factors for doing business; strengthen the global nature of the economy. The most important feature of ICT is the ability to create a global business environment for the activities of economic agents, globalized markets for technology, capital, and labor. The information network economy includes e-commerce, e-marketing,

electronic data exchange standards, electronic payment systems, electronic money.

The characteristic features of the information network economy are:

- changing the nature of commodity distribution networks and delivery systems, the role of intermediaries;
- the emergence of new trading mechanisms: virtual trading platforms, auctions and virtual network exchanges;
- erasing of geographical boundaries, and thanks to which the world is narrowing in terms of the speed of transfer of information, services, capital and even goods, which is also facilitated by the low cost of information transfer;
- use of ICT to increase labor productivity, increase economic growth rates, maintain low levels of inflation and unemployment;
- changes in the financial sector caused by the emergence of electronic money, Internet banking and Internet trading;
- changes in the research and design infrastructure, the emergence of the possibility of attracting designers from all over the world to work in corporations;
- changes in labor organization - the emergence of remote work and practice (outsourcing): transfer of production or assignment of a certain part of work or services to a third-party company, most often located in another country, usually having cheap labor or a better price/quality ratio in relation to to the task at hand;
- changes at the micro level, that is, business processes within the company, changes in marketing strategies, in the relationships of companies with each other and with customers;
- changes in traditional supply chains and logistics (the emergence of fundamentally new logistics schemes (supply chain management).

The new economy covers the entire system of macroeconomic consequences of the development of new technologies, for example, it affects the dynamics of the stock market with accompanying changes in the structure of wealth and income of legal entities and individuals; affects the rate of economic growth and labor productivity in industries. Thus, the concept of “new economy” is not limited to the information aspect, but represents a qualitatively new technological level of the entire national economy, including the current productive forces of society. She is able to accelerate the new