Cross-Platform Entry Effects of Commission Rates: Evidence from Mobile Applications in China

Jiayi Hou, Xuan Teng and Xuan Wang

No 12378, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: This paper studies how commission rates affect app entry across platforms. We examine an increase in Android game commission rate from 30% to 50% in China in 2014 and its impact on Android and iOS app stores, separately, in a difference-in-differences framework. We find a direct negative entry effect on Android by 47%. Meanwhile, the number of new games on the iOS App Store significantly decreased by 30% due to the higher Android commission rate, implying a negative cross-platform spillover effect. Moreover, the share of high-quality new games significantly decreased by 12%, indicating that higher commission rates discourage developers’ quality provision.

Keywords: platform competition; commission rate; complementarity; entry; quality; app stores; mobile applications (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: K21 L11 L42 L86 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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