Digital platforms

Algorithmic Collusion in the Housing Market

While the development of artificial intelligence has led to efficient business strategies, such as dynamic pricing, this new technology is vulnerable to collusion and consumer harm when companies share the same software through a central platform. Gabriele Bortolotti highlights the importance of antitrust enforcement in this domain for the second article in our series, using as a case study the RealPage class action lawsuit in the Seattle housing market.

Fair Treatment of Consumers at Any Price?

Many scholars and policymakers have suggested regulating firms’ ability to price discriminate between consumers when they operate in a market prone to inactive users,...

Can Twitter Be a Force for Good? Social Media Helps Curb Corporate Misconduct

Collective shaming on social media is crucial in reducing corporate misbehavior — and society would be significantly worse off without watchdog platforms. Social media, once...

The DOJ’s AdTech Suit Against Google Is Anything but Unconventional

The U.S. Department of Justice and eight states recently sued Google, claiming it runs its digital ad business to unfairly advantage its own business,...

User Hesitancy Increases Online Platforms’ Incumbency Advantage

“Incumbency advantage” among Big Tech platforms recognizes that network effects prevent users from leaving established platforms for emerging competitors. Gary Biglaiser, Jacques Crémer, and...

The Paramount Decrees and the Deregulation of Hollywood Studios

A landmark antitrust decision on Hollywood will sunset this year, paving the way for more major studios to overpower independent producers and exhibitors. A...

Too Many Economists Are Using a Flawed Theory To Defend Dominant Platforms’ Self-Preferencing Practices

Congress is currently considering two major bills that would regulate “self-preferencing” and related conduct by dominant digital platforms. Criticism of these bills is heavily...

Unfair Methods of Competition

The FTC’s new policy on unfair methods of competition is an assertion of the original purpose of the agency, allowing it to take on...

Fighting New Antitrust Rules Is a Bad Move for Big Tech

With new limits on platforms taking effect in the EU and U.S. politicians showing greater willingness to defy tech titans, companies would do better...

The Tech Barons’ Ideological Platter

Far from their self-promoted image as the world’s most innovative companies, the major tech platforms stifle plenty of innovation and invest in innovations that...

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