In­vi­ta­tion for PhD De­fen­ce - Da­ny­ang He

 In order to obtain the PhD degree, Danyang He has submitted her thesis entitled:  

Governing Digital Platforms in China 
The Institutionalization of Policy Design and Its Implications for Digital Innovation  

Digital platforms have become central infrastructures of the digital economy, shaping markets, data governance, innovation ecosystems, and social coordination. As governments increasingly seek to regulate and guide platform development, it becomes crucial to understand not only whether platform policies affect innovation, but also how such policies are formed, intensified, and combined over time. China provides an important case for this question, as its platform policy has evolved from market cultivation to strategic expansion and systemic governance within two decades.  This thesis examines how digital platform policy in China is constituted and how it shapes digital innovation. Drawing on national and provincial policy documents as well as digital economy patent data, it shows that China’s platform policy is not a series of isolated regulatory interventions, but an evolving policy architecture shaped by changing state visions of development, technology, risk, and order. The thesis argues that platform policy influences innovation by promoting or constraining its quantity, and by shaping its direction. In doing so, it contributes to a broader understanding of how states govern digital platforms as sociotechnical infrastructures in the digital economy.  

The thesis will be available from research.cbs.dk