Francesco Sabato Massimo
The aim of this project is to investigate the relation between big tech companies like Amazon and the transnational processes of geo-economic integration across the US, Europe and China. Amazon and AliBaba are two cases in point to better understand this relation.
Through the comparative study of Amazon’s and Alibaba’s development in their domestic countries and their deployment in Europe, my research aims at investigating the relation between on the one hand, big techs, especially those such as the above-mentioned firms, that rely on both digital and logistical infrastructures, and, on the other hand, economic statecraft in these three regions. As drivers of geo-economic integration and competition, Amazon and Alibaba face peculiar constraints and enjoy specific leverage that are unusual for the conventional conception of firms. First, given their interdependence with the state apparatuses of their respective home-countries, these firms are not pure economic actors. Second, given their dependence on a massive physical and logistical infrastructure these firms hold a deep foothold in their domestic as well as host markets. This infrastructural presence makes them sensitive to the influence of social movements and (supra-)state economic and industrial policy.