CTBE Publishes An Article on Harvard Business Review China, Discussing Platform Governance and National Strategies in Netflix and Korean Film Industry

2026-06-15
In the May/June 2026 issue of Harvard Business Review China, Prof. Meng Zhaoli, Associate Director of CTBE, and Prof. Hui Kai-Lung, Associate Provost of HKUST and Director of CTBE, argue that the future of a platform should not be an empire, but an ecosystem. This is not only about the fate of the South Korean film and television industry, but also about how we can safeguard the diversity of creativity and the sustainability of the industrial ecosystem at the intersection of the digital and AI era.

Professor of Practice Zhaoli Meng from HKUST Business School and Associate Vice-President (Academic Development) Kai-Lung Hui of HKUST have jointly published an article examining how digital platforms reshape industries, value creation, and national development strategies, using Netflix and the Korean entertainment industry as a prominent case.

The article highlights how South Korea spent more than three decades building a globally competitive content industry through sustained public investment, talent development, and industrial policy. While Netflix played an important role in expanding the international reach of Korean content, its global distribution power, capital resources, and platform advantages have significantly shifted value capture from content producers to the platform itself.

According to the authors, digital platforms today function not only as distributors but also as powerful infrastructures that control data, visibility, audience access, and pricing mechanisms. When a single platform can influence the trajectory of an entire national industry, traditional governance frameworks become increasingly inadequate.

Drawing on the work of Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom and incorporating insights from Jean Tirole, Karl Polanyi, Mariana Mazzucato, and Daron Acemoglu, the article proposes six governance principles for the digital platform era:

  • Making platform externalities visible and accountable;
  • Aligning value distribution with value creation;
  • Promoting transparency and participation in algorithmic governance;
  • Protecting industrial resilience and diversity;
  • Building multi-level and cross-border governance frameworks;
  • Evaluating platform success based on social welfare and ecosystem contributions.

The authors argue that the rise of artificial intelligence will further amplify platform influence across creative industries. Effective governance, therefore, should not focus solely on restricting platform power but on redesigning the relationship between platforms and broader innovation ecosystems to ensure sustainable and inclusive growth.

The article can be accessed via: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/pcfhJwkEqdVAvfIKVOWGmg

In the May/June 2026 issue of Harvard Business Review China, Prof. Meng Zhaoli, Associate Director of CTBE, and Prof. Hui Kai-Lung, Associate Provost of HKUST and Director of CTBE, argue that the future of a platform should not be an empire, but an ecosystem. This is not only about the fate of the South Korean film and television industry, but also about how we can safeguard the diversity of creativity and the sustainability of the industrial ecosystem at the intersection of the digital and AI era.