The Role of Cross-Border E-commerce Platforms in Digital Economy: Empower Firms to Gain Global Market Insights to Increase Global Competitiveness

The Role of Cross-Border E-commerce Platforms in Digital Economy: Empower Firms to Gain Global Market Insights to Increase Global Competitiveness | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The Role of Cross-Border E-commerce Platforms in Digital Economy: Empower Firms to Gain Global Market Insights to Increase Global Competitiveness Yubo Chen, Qi Wang, Jinhong Xie, Jurui Zhang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5026946/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract With the fast development of digital economy, cross-border e-commerce platforms provide unprecedented opportunities for firms particularly small businesses to expand their business to global markets. While these platforms create tremendous competition for sellers, they also provide a unique platform to empower firms to gain market insights without physically entering different international markets. This article investigates such unique role of the cross-border e-commerce platforms from a data rich social network perspective. Specifically, by aggregating thousands of sellers and buyers, these digital platforms own massive data on the complex buyer–seller social networks, in which sellers can become connected with one another through common buyers with whom they have traded. Based on a proprietary dataset from a leading Chinese cross-border e-commerce platform, this study shows how the implicit social interactions in this digital platform affect sellers’ performance, how such impacts vary in developed versus emerging markets, and how they were affected by macro-economic shocks such as the global financial crisis. Our research provides important implications for firms going global in the digital economy age, and on the critical role of digital platforms in empowering small businesses. cross-border e-commerce platforms digital economy digital platforms social networks implicit social interactions emerging markets global financial crisis Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 14 Nov, 2024 Reviews received at journal 21 Oct, 2024 Reviews received at journal 16 Sep, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Sep, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Sep, 2024 Reviewers invited by journal 09 Sep, 2024 Editor assigned by journal 04 Sep, 2024 Submission checks completed at journal 04 Sep, 2024 First submitted to journal 03 Sep, 2024 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5026946","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":356554995,"identity":"98409a5e-e53a-4a64-bd08-591c3539a15d","order_by":0,"name":"Yubo Chen","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Tsinghua University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yubo","middleName":"","lastName":"Chen","suffix":""},{"id":356554996,"identity":"dbaa2b4b-9472-4ffa-b0f2-ecbf86d89078","order_by":1,"name":"Qi Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"China Europe International Business School","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Qi","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":356554997,"identity":"28b3b64e-7566-464a-bda7-b53892a61588","order_by":2,"name":"Jinhong Xie","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Florida","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jinhong","middleName":"","lastName":"Xie","suffix":""},{"id":356554998,"identity":"7c184541-97bc-4fa3-87ba-06e1fc2f9852","order_by":3,"name":"Jurui Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Massachusetts Boston","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jurui","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-09-03 18:41:24","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5026946/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5026946/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":66152181,"identity":"aa8191ba-7b15-4763-a73e-040ac53b3824","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-10-08 07:59:44","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":483221,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ImplicitSocialInteraction2024JDM.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5026946/v1_covered_0f7bc81c-ef70-4020-a147-d93ba0972610.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"The Role of Cross-Border E-commerce Platforms in Digital Economy: Empower Firms to Gain Global Market Insights to Increase Global Competitiveness","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"journal-of-digital-management","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Journal of Digital Management](https://link.springer.com/journal/44362)","snPcode":"44362","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/44362/3","title":"Journal of Digital Management","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Open","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"cross-border e-commerce platforms, digital economy, digital platforms, social networks, implicit social interactions, emerging markets, global financial crisis","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5026946/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5026946/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eWith the fast development of digital economy, cross-border e-commerce platforms provide unprecedented opportunities for firms particularly small businesses to expand their business to global markets. While these platforms create tremendous competition for sellers, they also provide a unique platform to empower firms to gain market insights without physically entering different international markets. This article investigates such unique role of the cross-border e-commerce platforms from a data rich social network perspective. Specifically, by aggregating thousands of sellers and buyers, these digital platforms own massive data on the complex buyer\u0026ndash;seller social networks, in which sellers can become connected with one another through common buyers with whom they have traded. Based on a proprietary dataset from a leading Chinese cross-border e-commerce platform, this study shows how the implicit social interactions in this digital platform affect sellers\u0026rsquo; performance, how such impacts vary in developed versus emerging markets, and how they were affected by macro-economic shocks such as the global financial crisis. Our research provides important implications for firms going global in the digital economy age, and on the critical role of digital platforms in empowering small businesses.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"The Role of Cross-Border E-commerce Platforms in Digital Economy: Empower Firms to Gain Global Market Insights to Increase Global Competitiveness","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-10-08 07:51:36","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5026946/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2024-11-14T06:54:36+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2024-10-21T09:23:07+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2024-09-16T05:26:06+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"113330549599449213568157231220209790899","date":"2024-09-16T03:33:39+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"178802991074710430001568201998614955105","date":"2024-09-15T02:13:38+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2024-09-09T09:14:55+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2024-09-05T01:29:44+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2024-09-05T01:28:41+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Journal of Digital Management","date":"2024-09-03T18:38:41+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"journal-of-digital-management","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Journal of Digital Management](https://link.springer.com/journal/44362)","snPcode":"44362","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/44362/3","title":"Journal of Digital Management","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Open","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"ebcdeb4f-c615-4189-bf52-739c58942eea","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 8th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-12-05T02:23:42+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-10-08 07:51:36","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5026946","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5026946","identity":"rs-5026946","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}