Research

Democratizing the Creator Economy: Monetizing Through Subscriptions

with Kai Zhu

Platforms increasingly provide direct monetization opportunities through creator–viewer subscriptions, contrasting with traditional reach-driven advertising models. We study the impact of the Twitch Affiliate Program (TAP), which substantially lowered entry barriers to paid channel subscriptions and micro-donations.

Using a time-shifted difference-in-differences design, we estimate causal effects on creator production, strategy, and revenue. TAP significantly increases content supply, especially among smaller creators, whose streaming hours more than double. Effort dynamics exhibit goal-gradient patterns, peaking prior to qualification and stabilizing at a higher level afterward. Monetization access also professionalizes creator behavior, leading to more deliberate content strategies and improved game performance. Revenue estimates show that TAP provides meaningful supplementary income even for median creators, demonstrating that low-barrier subscription models can broaden participation and complement advertising-based monetization.

View paper on SSRN

Network Effects and Platform Competition: Insights from Online Dating Markets

with Kai Zhu and Qiaoni Shi

This project studies how network effects shape competition in matching platforms. Using a rich dataset on dating apps across Chinese cities from 2018–2024, we ask: (1) To what extent do network effects influence user engagement? (2) How do local market characteristics shape these effects? (3) How does heterogeneity in network effects affect platform competition? (4) How do different network strengths and policy interventions shape market equilibria?

Our structural framework leverages variation in local market shares across cities for identification. The findings aim to inform platform strategy, competition policy, and antitrust analysis by highlighting the importance of localized and heterogeneous network effects in platform markets.