Can consumer ownership schemes provide a more democratic financing mechanism for the online marketplace? When it comes to being successful as an online platform, size matters. The network effect, which tells us that the value of a platform increases exponentially as a function of the user base, creates a natural concentration of power, if you’re a vendor trying to sell or advertise products, you will pick the platform with the largest audience. The network effect also creates an exit barrier, as moving to a competing platform without the same reach and user base means fewer potential customers. The consumer ownership scheme that I will be focusing on is the Consumer Stock Ownership Plan pioneered by Louis Kelso. The CSOP is a method of corporate finance that enables consumers to buy an ownership interest in a company on which they heavily rely. It is a democratic capitalistic tool to mitigate the harm caused monopolies or oligopolies. A CSOP does not require consumers to buy the company’s shares in the stock market. Instead, the company acquires its shares in a trust on behalf of consumers and uses dividends to amortise the investment. Shares that are fully amortised are transferred to their owners. In this essay, I make the case that CSOP financing for online marketplaces makes sense for three reasons.A CSOP does not discriminate against those who lack the capital to acquire shares in the first place;Users are an integral part of the value proposition of an online marketplace. A CSOP acknowledges this fact by making users owners.Users’ data generates value, which indirectly flows back to users in a CSOP.

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如果我们拥有民主的，资本主义的在线市场怎么办？

消费者所有权计划可以为在线市场提供更民主的融资机制吗？当要成功成为在线平台时，规模至关重要。网络效应告诉我们，平台的价值根据用户群呈指数增长，它会自然地产生力量集中，如果您是试图销售或做广告的供应商，则可以选择具有最大的受众群体。网络效应也造成了出口壁垒，因为迁移到没有相同覆盖范围和用户群的竞争平台意味着更少的潜在客户。我要关注的消费者所有权计划是路易斯·凯尔索（Louis Kelso）率先提出的“消费者股票所有权计划”。CSOP是一种公司融资方法，使消费者能够购买他们严重依赖的公司的所有权权益。它是一种民主的资本主义工具，可以减轻垄断或寡头垄断造成的损害。CSOP并不要求消费者在股票市场上购买公司的股票。取而代之的是，该公司代表消费者以信托形式获取其股份，并使用股息摊销投资。完全摊销的股份将转让给其所有者。在本文中，我认为CSOP为在线市场融资是有道理的，原因有以下三点：CSOP不会歧视那些缺乏资本来获取股票的人;用户是企业价值主张不可或缺的一部分在线市场。CSOP通过让用户成为所有者来承认这一事实。用户的数据会产生价值，并在CSOP中间接流回用户。