Job Market Paper
Na Liu
Supervised by Prof. Chris Forman (Cornell University)
Supervised by Prof. Chris Forman (Cornell University)
Cite
Cite
APA
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Liu, N. How Commission Fees Reshape Digital Advertising and Creator Economies: Implications for Platform Pricing.
Chicago/Turabian
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Liu, Na. “How Commission Fees Reshape Digital Advertising and Creator Economies: Implications for Platform Pricing.” Edited by Supervised by Prof. Chris Forman (Cornell University) (n.d.).
MLA
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Liu, Na. How Commission Fees Reshape Digital Advertising and Creator Economies: Implications for Platform Pricing. Edited by Supervised by Prof. Chris Forman (Cornell University).
BibTeX Click to copy
@article{na-a,
title = {How Commission Fees Reshape Digital Advertising and Creator Economies: Implications for Platform Pricing},
author = {Liu, Na},
editor = {by Prof. Chris Forman (Cornell University), Supervised}
}
Invited Presentations: CES 2024, AMA 2024, INFORMS 2024, AEA 2025, CIST 2025
Submitting to Information Systems Research
This study examines how commission fee pricing reshapes multi-sided user-generated content (UGC) platforms by analyzing a natural experiment where a major platform eliminated fees for goods-selling ad links in sponsored contents. Using various market-level difference-in-differences models, we reveal three key findings: (1) Advertisers reallocated 13% of placements toward fee-exempt links, demonstrating notable price sensitivity; (2) Platform revenue declined as substitutions outweighed demand expansion; and (3) The fee exemption triggered a redistribution on the creators' side, with contents for treated advertisers gaining 3 additional interactions per 100 views, occurring primarily from top creators. Our work advances information systems research by providing the first causal evidence on how commission fee changes reconfigure multi-sided markets—spanning advertisers, creators, and platform revenues. The findings highlight critical trade-offs: while fee structures steer advertiser behavior, they may inadvertently cannibalize revenue and amplify redistribution among participants in this multi-sided ecosystem. These insights inform platform governance by demonstrating the need to balance participation with profitability and model cross-sided effects before implementing pricing changes.
Submitting to Information Systems Research
This study examines how commission fee pricing reshapes multi-sided user-generated content (UGC) platforms by analyzing a natural experiment where a major platform eliminated fees for goods-selling ad links in sponsored contents. Using various market-level difference-in-differences models, we reveal three key findings: (1) Advertisers reallocated 13% of placements toward fee-exempt links, demonstrating notable price sensitivity; (2) Platform revenue declined as substitutions outweighed demand expansion; and (3) The fee exemption triggered a redistribution on the creators' side, with contents for treated advertisers gaining 3 additional interactions per 100 views, occurring primarily from top creators. Our work advances information systems research by providing the first causal evidence on how commission fee changes reconfigure multi-sided markets—spanning advertisers, creators, and platform revenues. The findings highlight critical trade-offs: while fee structures steer advertiser behavior, they may inadvertently cannibalize revenue and amplify redistribution among participants in this multi-sided ecosystem. These insights inform platform governance by demonstrating the need to balance participation with profitability and model cross-sided effects before implementing pricing changes.