The emerging role of electronic marketplaces on the Internet

Markets play a central role in the economy, facilitating the exchange of information, goods, services and payments. In the process, they create economic value for buyers, sellers, market intermediaries and for society at large. Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the role of information technology in markets, both in traditional markets, and in the emergence of electronic marketplaces, such as the multitude of Internet-based online auctions.