The DOI matches its Crossref record; 48 of the 48 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Reconsideration of the Winner-Take-All Hypothesis: Complex Networks and Local Bias
Abstract
The literature on network effects has popularized a hypothesis that competition between incompatible technologies results in the “winner-take-all” outcome. For the survival of the firm in this sort of competition, the installed base has been emphasized. We argue that the validity of this hypothesis depends on how customers interact with one another (e.g., if they exchange advice or files). In some interaction networks, customers influenced by their acquaintances may adopt a lagging technology even when a lead technology has built a large installed base. The presence of such a local bias facilitates the persistence of incompatibilities. When local bias cannot be sustained in other interaction networks, one technology corners the market. Our study suggests that overemphasizing the installed base, while ignoring network structure, could mislead practitioners.
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“social media are well suited to interoperable networking: users have a 'local bias' for adopting the service their friends already use rather than the largest platform overall (Lee et al., 2006(Lee et al., , p. 1839)).”
From Make Social Media Social Again: How Platform Interoperability Can Fix Social Media and Future‐Proof Democracy (2026) · cites this paper as Lee et al., 2006
In the citing paper
“With user 'cliques' acting as local attractors, winner-take-all effects fail to materialize so long as those local ties remain strong (as demonstrated by Lee et al. (2006) via simulation).”
From Make Social Media Social Again: How Platform Interoperability Can Fix Social Media and Future‐Proof Democracy (2026) · cites this paper as Lee et al. (2006)
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Metadata
- Authors
- Lee, E., Lee, J., & Lee, J.
- Affiliations
- Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KR)
- Hallym University (KR)
- Department of Business Administration, Hallym University, 39 Hallymdaehak-gil, Chunchon, Kangwon-do 200-702, Korea
- ORCID
- Lee, Jeho
- Venue
- Management Science
- Published
- 2006-12
- Volume
- 52
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 1838-1848
- ISSN
- 0025-1909 (ISSN-L)
- 1526-5501
- OpenAlex
- W2128344388
- Cited by
- 157
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 14.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Management Science (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Digital Platforms and Economics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Innovation Diffusion and Forecasting
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Business Strategy and Innovation
- Keywords
- network effects, local bias, installed base, technology adoption, network structure, complex networks, market dominance
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