Thu Nguyen, a researcher at the University of Amsterdam, studies this question and sees a trend: the greater the dominance of these 'superstar companies', the lower the long-term economic growth. 'We want a healthy economy where all companies have the opportunity to innovate,' says Nguyen. 'But if money and talent are concentrated in just a few big players, it could create an inequitable distribution that hinders innovation and overall productivity.' 

A risk for both the economy and investors  

Nguyen examines how capital is distributed in the economy. Because of their dominance, superstar companies could gobble up a large share of financial resources at the expense of smaller companies. This phenomenon, called 'inefficient capital allocation', poses a serious risk to economic growth as well as to investors. 'My research shows that this inefficiency signals lower economic growth,' explains Nguyen. 'For investors who care about future economic growth, that's bad news, so this inefficiency captures a risk factor.' 

What does that mean for consumers? 

A relevant example is the way Apple controls the market. 'If an app developer wants to offer their product in the Apple Store, they have to pay a 30% commission. That is huge,' says Nguyen. 'The European Commission is investigating this kind of dominance because it could prevent smaller companies from entering the market. And apart from the macroeconomic consequences, it also affects the supply in (web) stores. Less choice for consumers.'