当前，世界经济正在从工业经济转向数字经济。在这一过程中，生产要素、商业组织、商业模型和经济环境等也随之发生变化，因此需要一个新的理论分析框架。

近期发表在期刊Journal of Digital Economy的"Research Agenda for the Digital Economy: an IBCDE framework"一文，作为该刊主编写下的卷首语，提出了数字经济的IBCDE框架，包括数字基础设施（I）、to-B端的产业平台（B）、to-C端的双边平台（C）、数据要素市场和数据生态（D）以及数字经济宏观环境（E）。

在经历了第一次和第二次工业革命之后，信息通信技术（ICT）的突破发展和广泛应用成为第三次工业革命的重要标志，全球开始步入数字时代。随着数字经济的快速发展，新的信息通信技术（比如，人工智能、5G、大数据和物联网等）重塑了组织的结构、互动方式和激励机制。

技术革新进一步引致生产要素、产业组织、商业模式和全球经济环境的变化。农业时代的主要生产要素是土地和劳动力，工业时代的主要生产要素是资本和技术，而到了数字经济时代，数据要素成为核心生产要素。数据要素具有非竞争性、规模报酬递增等独特性质，能够帮助数字经济时代的企业提质增效。此外，产业组织形态也从供应链向平台、生态等新的形式转变，从而更灵活地应对当前经济环境下的各种不确定性。新的产业组织也带来了新的商业模式，企业从固定的单一商业模式逐渐转向多元、动态、协同演化的生态型商业模式。上述的这些变化正在重塑全球的数字经济竞争格局，也为发展中国家提供了新的机遇。

清华大学社会科学学院的戎珂教授在《Journal of Digital Economy》的文章中提出了IBCDE理论研究框架，指出了数字时代值得研究的问题。

Image: AN INTEGRATED IBCDE FRAMEWORK FOR DIGITAL ECONOMY. CREDIT: THE AUTHOR

其中，数字基础设施（Digital Infrastructure，I）是数字经济的基础。数字基础设施包括了硬件（芯片）、软件（操作系统、数据库等）、云、网络（5G、物联网等）四大方面。研究数字基础设施对企业数字化、数字生态构建等的影响具有重要意义。基于数字基础设施，在生产端和消费端也形成了各类数字平台。在生产端平台又称产业平台（to B platforms，B）上，平台互补者的互动、基于数字技术形成的网络效应均是产业平台领域的重要研究内容。消费端平台（to C platforms，C）主要指双边平台，其中，网络效应、价格结构、平台垄断、平台生态、平台利益相关者的福利与隐私等问题均是双边平台中需要进一步探索的。由数据要素形成的数据市场和数据生态（Data market and data ecosystem，D）是数字经济的另一大研究议题，数据权属的界定、数据市场的结构、数据生态的商业组织等理论问题还有很大的研究空间。同时，数字经济时代的宏观经济环境也发生了巨大的变化，在数字经济冲击下，传统经济中的资源配置、就业、货币和资产等话题也有待进一步研究。

戎珂指出：“经济的数字化转型正在重塑人与人之间的联结方式、企业的运行结构以及行业的组织形态，数据正在持续赋能并重塑社会经济环境，我们也正在从数字经济迈向数字文明。”

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文章信息

Research Agenda for the Digital Economy: an IBCDE framework

Ke Rong

期刊简介

工业革命将人类从早期的农业社会转变为工业化时代，而21世纪则见证了数字文明的崛起。Journal of Digital Economy (JDE)由清华大学社会科学院经济学研究所与科爱共同创办，致力于阐明这个数字时代是如何扩展、重组和挑战现有知识和传统方法的。JDE是一个多学科的平台，包括但不限于经济学、管理学、社会学、政治经济学，计算机科学和环境科学。JDE研究如何在数字时代提高经济福祉、社会公平和环境可持续性。JDE欢迎以实践和政策为导向的研究，以应对我们这个时代特有的挑战和利用机遇。

主编（本文作者）

戎珂

清华大学社科学院经济学所

清华大学长聘教授、博导

研究方向为商业/创新生态系统、数字经济和数据生态

文章链接：

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S277306702200005X

推荐阅读

【特刊征稿】JDE┃数字经济时代的生态系统新发展

【特刊征稿】JDE┃数字经济时代可持续性与数字供应链的管理

【特刊征稿】JDE┃数字战略、人工智能与平台经济

Research Agenda for the Digital Economy

Summary: As the industrial economy rapidly transforms into a digital economy, production factors, organization forms, and business models are changing dramatically. Ke Rong proposed an IBCDE framework, which includes digital infrastructure (I), to-B (B), to-C (C), data market and ecosystem (D), and economic contexts (E), to better understand the current development and future landscape of the digital economy.

Main text: Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have sparked the third industrial revolution after the first and second industrial revolutions. As a result, society has entered the digital age. Modern ICT technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), 5G, big data, and the internet of things (IoTs) are transforming business structures, organizational interactions, and motivating employees. 

The digital economy is bringing dramatic changes to factors of production, industrial organization, business models, and global context. Land and labor were the most important factors of production in an agricultural economy, while capital and technology dominated in an industrial economy. As the digital economy grows, data also plays an increasingly important role. Due to its unique characteristics, such as non-rivalry and increasing returns to scale, the Data factor can help reduce costs and improve production efficiency. Aside from this, industrial organizations are also transforming from supply chains to platforms and ecosystems, which are becoming more flexible in dealing with current economic uncertainties. Meanwhile, enterprises will gradually change from the single business model to the ecosystem model, which engages diversity, dynamics, and coevolution. All the factors mentioned above are shaping global digital competition and creating new opportunities for all countries worldwide.

In light of these observations, Professor Ke Rong from the School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, proposes a theoretical framework IBCDE to better understand the current development and future landscape of the digital economy.

In the IBCDE framework, I (infrastructure) refers to the digital infrastructure, which is the foundation of the digital economy and creates more growth opportunities. Digital infrastructure includes hardware, software, cloud, and new networks (i.e., 5G, IoTs). To promote digital transformation, it is highly encouraged to integrate emerging digital technologies into the real economy. To B (business) and to C (consumer) refer to the platforms that connect firms on the production side and connect users on the consumption side, respectively. To B (business) platforms connect tiers of firms alongside a supply chain, which generates a multi-tier market structure. In contrast, two-sided platforms or multi-sided platforms allow users to interact with each other around the platform, displaying a single-tier relationship between buyers and sellers. With regard to D (data), we need to pay more attention to data markets and related ecosystems in the era of the digital economy. To date, there is little literature on data rights, the structure of the data market, and the data ecosystem. In the context of economics (E), there have been tremendous changes. There was a need for a further and advanced understanding of topics such as resource distribution, social employment, currency, and assets.

As Ke Rong emphasizes, "the digital transformation of the economy is changing how people connect, how businesses are shaped, and how industries are reshaped...leading us to a broader future of digital civilization." 

Image: AN INTEGRATED IBCDE FRAMEWORK FOR DIGITAL ECONOMY. CREDIT: THE AUTHOR

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Contact the corresponding author: Ke Rong, r@tsinghua.edu.cn

Funder:  This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 71872098; 71834006), Beijing Social Science Funds (Grant No. 21DTR051) and Tsinghua Strategy for Heightening Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences: "Plateaus & Peaks" （ P&P）(Grant no. 2021TSG07009).

Journal: Journal of Digital Economy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdec.2022.08.004

Article title: Research Agenda for the Digital Economy: an IBCDE framework