Research

This paper studies two-sided market competition in the context of content creating platforms, specifically TikTok and YouTube. We assume players interact with each other under a static game and that platforms’ strategies adapt to the intensity of competition among producers. Online short-video based content creation platforms such as TikTok and YouTube are fairly new and have newer implications for indirect (cross-side) network effects. We examines competition when users have preferences over two types of content and platforms can choose to specialize in one type of content or diversify into both. The study finds that platform strategies are significantly influenced by the level of competition among content producers. We consider two primary scenarios: one with an equal number of both types of producers, and another where one type of producers outnumber the other. For each scenario, we analyze how platforms respond to varying levels of competition intensity between producers. In environments with higher competitive intensity, one platform tends to diversify while the other specializes in the content type with more producers to avoid direct rivalry. Conversely, in low-intensity environments, platforms are more likely to adopt strategies akin to Hotelling’s model, positioning themselves at opposite extremes.

Solar renewable energy certificate (SREC) programs provide dedicated incentives for solar generation. We use annual utility-level data from 2001–2023 and stacked event-study and difference-in-differences models to examine how SREC adoption changes the electricity generation mix. Our difference-in-differences estimates indicate a 19.2 percentage point increase in solar generation share and a 12.2 percentage point decline in non-clean generation share. Solar-share gains develop gradually and are concentrated in states with middle and high initial requirements, with estimated increases of 22.0 and 31.2 percentage points, respectively. Both groups exhibit similar declines in non-clean generation share, while the high-requirement group shows a larger decline in non-solar clean share in later years. Evidence of this latter pattern is less consistent across specifications. These findings connect initial policy requirements to the timing and composition of generation responses.