Two Sides of the Same Coin: Exploring the Influence of Power Dynamics on Value Co-Creation in Decentralized Data Ecosystems

Digital platform ecosystems are widely criticized for pronounced power asymmetries, leading to disproportionate value capture by platform owners over complementary value co-creators. In response, decentralized platforms, called data spaces, and their surrounding ecosystems are emerging, promising fairer conditions for value co-creation from data sharing. However, it remains unclear whether these ecosystems truly mitigate power imbalances or replicate centralized dynamics. Using resource dependence theory, we conducted qualitative interviews within a single case study of Catena-X, a decentralized data ecosystem for the automotive supply chain. Our findings reveal three distinct power patterns shaped by actors’ strategic position, company size, and timing of ecosystem entry. We show that power dynamics can simultaneously foster and hinder value co-creation, highlighting the need for power moderation. Moreover, we argue that decentralized data ecosystems, by their design, incorporate measures for balancing power across governance and technical levels, fostering fairer value co-creation while challenging traditional platform dynamics.