Access Dilution in Contribution Economies

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The Contribution Purchasing Power (CPP) Model

Mohith Agadi

Fact Protocol Working Paper No. 2026-01 | Version 2.3 | August 2026

DOI (Access on SSRN):
https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.7138823

All Versions (Access on Zenodo):
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21685283

Overview

As participation in memberships, creator communities, donor programs, and loyalty schemes grows, the same contribution often delivers less recognition, exclusivity, and meaningful interaction over time. This paper introduces the Contribution Purchasing Power (CPP) model to explain why. It shows how network benefits and positional dilution interact as communities scale, producing a non-monotonic pattern where value first rises and then declines. Using a recent policy change at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams as a real-world case, the paper demonstrates how contributors perceive and respond to declining contribution purchasing power. The framework offers a clean, contributor-centric lens for understanding modern participation economies.

Graph of net participation value in the Contribution Purchasing Power (CPP) model. The curve V(P) rises with early growth in participation, peaks at an interior maximum P*, and then declines as access dilution dominates over network benefits.
Figure 1. Net participation value V(P) in the Contribution Purchasing Power (CPP) model. Network benefits rise with diminishing returns while positional dilution costs increase, producing an interior maximum at P* before value declines due to Access Dilution.

How Access Dilution Emerges

Diagram showing the mechanism of Access Dilution in the Contribution Purchasing Power (CPP) model. Community growth increases both network benefits and positional benefit dilution, subject to the constraint of scarce resources R, resulting in a non-monotonic value trajectory.
Figure 2. The mechanism of Access Dilution in the Contribution Purchasing Power (CPP) model. Participation growth simultaneously strengthens network benefits while diluting positional benefits, subject to the constraint of scarce resources R.

Why This Paper Matters (Key Highlights)

  • Introduces the Contribution Purchasing Power (CPP) model, a formal framework for analyzing how value changes as participation grows.
  • Provides the first quantified, non-Western case study (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams) showing revealed-preference behavior around contribution value.
  • Clearly distinguishes structural Access Dilution from deliberate platform degradation (enshittification).
  • Offers five testable propositions for future empirical work.
  • Includes two original figures that visually explain the CPP model and the mechanism of Access Dilution.

How to Cite

Suggested Citation

Agadi, Mohith, Access Dilution in Contribution Economies: Scarcity, Scale, and the Erosion of Contribution Purchasing Power (July 18, 2026). Available at SSRN: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.7138823

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PAPER

Working Paper No. 2026-01
Version 2.3 · August 2026
Available on SSRN

ISSN: 2836-5925 (Online)