Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

6-2026

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Business

Advisor

Qiang Gao

Advisor

Karl Lang

Committee Members

Karl Lang

Qiang Gao

Ana Valenzuela

Jiaru Bai

Subject Categories

Management Information Systems

Keywords

Digital platforms; generative AI; digital labor market; human capital; bidding regimes; privacy disclosure; digital resignation; platform governance; hidden Markov model; platform governance; transparency policy

Abstract

This dissertation examines how technological disruptions reshape behavior, competition, and user response in platform ecosystems. Bringing together two studies of generative AI in digital labor market and one study of mandatory privacy disclosure in mobile app ecosystems, it argues that platform technologies do not affect participants uniformly. Instead, their effects are mediated by market structures, competitive dynamics, and platform dependence.

The first study shows that ChatGPT shifts workers’ human capital strategies by reducing investment in specialized depth while increasing skill diversity, revealing a move from exploitation toward exploration. Yet market rewards remain uneven, as workers who integrate AI with deep expertise achieve stronger performance outcomes. The second study models bidding behavior as movement across latent regimes and finds that generative AI both improves outcomes within regimes and shifts workers across them, with effects varying by experience. The third study examines Google Play’s 2022 Data Safety policy and finds that mandatory privacy disclosures initially reduce both downloads and ratings, but over time behavioral engagement substantially recovers while negative sentiment persists.

Taken together, the dissertation shows that technological disruptions generate adaptation without necessarily producing empowerment. Across labor and consumption contexts, actors respond strategically, but those responses remain bounded by platform design, market structure, and dependence. The dissertation identifies market adaptation and digital resignation as two related consequences of technological disruption in platform ecosystems.

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