Zviad Beshkenadze
PhD in Social Sciences (Economics), Associate Professor, Akaki Tsereteli State University
Abstract
The modern global economy is undergoing a deeply systemic transformation characterized by the increasing concentration of economic power and resources in the hands of digital platforms, accompanied by the erosion of sovereign financial and political mechanisms. Digital “captation” — the algorithmic appropriation of data, financial transactions, and consumer behavior — emerges as a new mechanism for economic influence, reshaping the classical foundations of ownership, labor, and exchange.
Simultaneously, the dominance of payment systems—referring to the control of financial infrastructure by private and global platforms—introduces new vulnerabilities for small economies, including Georgia, which functions as a peripheral actor in global digital networks.
A particularly critical phenomenon is the distractive transformation of markets, referring to mechanisms by which digital channels (platforms, advertising, algorithms) shape consumer demand and behavior beyond the logic of traditional economic laws.
This study evaluates the position of Georgia, as a small economy, within the emerging platform economy—a system where economic value is produced and centralized through digital infrastructures controlled by transnational actors. The analysis highlights the country’s exposure to global capital concentration, the privatization of financial infrastructures, and the weakening of national economic sovereignty amidst the deterioration of regulatory and ownership principles.
The author analyzes how these dynamics deepen global inequality, undermine inclusive development, and reinforce new forms of geoeconomic dependence. The article contributes to the conceptual foundation for rethinking economic order and sovereignty in the digital age, offering a strategic framework for small economies like Georgia to navigate the post-neoliberal global architecture.
By doing so, it seeks to move beyond descriptive critique and to develop actionable intellectual tools for defining a sustainable, alternative model of development—one that is resilient to platform hegemony and capable of preserving economic agency in an algorithmically intermediated global system.
Keywords: Digital Finance, Financial Innovation, Regulatory Frameworks, FinTech Companies, Digital Lari (e-Lari), Regulatory Sandbox, PSD2 Directive, Financial Technologies, Platform Economy, Financial Sector of Georgia.
JEL: O33; E42; F63
DOI: 10.52244/c2025.23
The article is in Georgian.
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