Resumen
The emerging role of electronic marketplaces on the Internet is the main focus of this article. According to the author, in the process of playing the central role in the economy, the markets create economic value for buyers, sellers, market intermediates, and for society at large. The role of information technology has dramatically increased in the recent years, both in traditional markets, and in the emergence of electronic marketplaces, such as the multitude of Internet-based online auctions. Markets have three main functions: matching buyers and sellers; facilitating the exchange of information, goods, services and payments associated with market transactions; and providing an institutional infrastructure, such as a legal and regulatory framework, that enables the efficient functioning of the market. The article elaborates on these three functions and related aspects of Internet market such as, Internet marketplaces and competition and the role of electronic intermediaries. The article concludes that Internet-based electronic marketplaces are still at a formative stage, and it is hard to fully predict their impact on the structure of markets.