Abstract
The digital economy is of growing importance for society, but its development challenges the traditional approaches to competition policy and regulation, based on a benchmark of perfect competition that regulatory authorities aim at approaching in the various relevant markets. Economies of scale and scope are more the rule than the exception, network effects and multi-sidedness are pervasive, information and data are shaping industries, the boundaries of the markets are becoming blurred, and industry dynamics are on a new scale. These features make the perfect competition benchmark and the focus on individual markets less relevant, calling for a new conceptual framework for the analysis of competition in the digital economy.
The proposed research aims at breaking new ground on four related fronts. First, competition in the digital economy is increasingly between ecosystems involving multiple products and, often, multiple actors. Second, platforms compete for consumer attention, raising questions about consumer behaviour and platforms’ ability to influence it. Third, the digital revolution has drastically affected the way firms compete and cooperate along the vertical chains of production and distribution. Finally, the role of data raises questions not only about the interplay between business strategy and consumer privacy, but also about how the quest for data can shape entry and competition in product markets.
On each theme, several avenues are proposed to enhance our understanding of how competition works in the digital era; the insights will shed light on desirable changes for competition policy and regulation – interpreted in a broad sense, including policies that affect the functioning of digital markets such as consumer or privacy protection policies.
Description du projet: L’impact de l’économie numérique sur la concurrence et la réglementation
Le rôle de l’économie numérique dans les sociétés modernes façonne toujours plus les industries et introduit de nouvelles dynamiques de marché. Toutefois, ces évolutions remettent en question les approches traditionnelles de la politique et de la réglementation de la concurrence. Le projet DIGECON, financé par l’UE, mènera des recherches innovantes visant à accroître la concurrence entre les écosystèmes impliquant de nombreux produits et acteurs. Il se concentrera également sur la concurrence des plateformes, ainsi que sur l’impact de la révolution numérique sur la concurrence et la coopération au sein des chaînes verticales de production et de distribution. Le projet étudiera en outre comment les données soulèvent des questions concernant l’interaction entre la stratégie commerciale et la vie privée des consommateurs.
Project Dates: September 2022 - August 2027
Contact in TSE: Patrick Rey
