Digital markets: formative components, regulation, challenges and insights from the European Union Digital Markets Act

Purpose This study aims to examine digital markets, their formative components, regulation and challenges. It also presents a concise definition of “digital markets” and suggests a link between digital markets and digital financial inclusion. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a conceptual discussion of digital markets, their formative components and regulation. Findings The study projects digital markets to be a game changer for society. It analyses the regulation of digital markets, particularly the recent European Union Digital Markets Act, and show that regulation focus mostly on large technological companies. The study also shows the benefits of digital market regulation for users of digital markets and the demerits for the large technological companies who own the world’s largest digital transactional platforms in digital markets. The criticisms of regulating large technological companies are also identified. Originality/value There has been very little policy or academic discussion or debate about the value of digital markets in the literature. Most debates in the literature focus on the large technological companies that operate in digital markets, but there are no discussions or debates in the literature about the value proposition of digital markets as a standalone concept.