Foreword for the Special Issue “The Economics of Digital Business Models”

Over the past decade, the distribution/growth of information technology (IT) has transformed the organization of economic activities. IT has enhanced economic agents' capabilities to collect and process information, to coordinate and manage transactions. Although IT threatens the activities of traditional intermediaries, it also creates new opportunities and needs for intermediation. This special issue aims to define these new forms of intermediation and understand their underlying business models. This issue is composed of a selection of papers presented at the workshop, "The economics of e-intermediation: What is specific in digital business models?" held in Paris (June 2005). This special issue proposes theoretical lenses for contrasting and characterizing new digital business models (DBM). A DBM is a three-dimensional model that combines elements of matching, assembling and knowledge management. The selected papers provide in-depth and complementary views on these three dimensions.