Publishing Journal ›› 2025, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (5): 55-66.

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Causes of Position Solidification and Upgrading Paths in the Digital Publishing Value Chain of Educational Publishers

  

  1. School of JournalismFudan University

  • Received:2025-01-14 Revised:2025-06-24 Online:2025-10-14 Published:2025-10-14

Abstract:

Drawing on the theoretical logic of new structural economicswhich emphasizes comparative advantage in determining development paths”, this study conducts in-depth interviews and data analysis of 45 educational publishing enterprises to examine the causes of position solidification in the digital publishing value chain and possible upgrading paths. The findings indicate that publishers are situated in three distinct stages of the value chain :“embedded”,“expansion”, and leading. Most publishers face upgrading dilemmas within their respective stages due to weak endogenous capacitylimited capital surplusand insufficient R&D investment. In contrastsome publishers with similar factor endowment structures have achieved staged breakthroughsprimarily by developing dynamic capabilities in collaborative decision-makinguser analysisand supply-demand coordination.

Key words:

Educational publishing ,  , Digital publishing  , Value chain  , Industry upgrading , New structural economics

CLC Number: