This paper analyzes conflicts that arise when trying to apply traditional antitrust principles in the context of digital markets.

This paper examines firms' choices to use mobile platforms — namely iOS and Android. Using Crunchbase® data on startups seeking external funding, we find that 16 of 47 business categories are likely to use mobile platforms. 10 of these 16 exhibit no platform preferences, implying...

Given the political and public interest in rising industry concentration in developed economies, researchers have been working on uncovering underlying mechanisms and implications. Various causes of concentration have been proposed, although rarely tested in a comprehensive model. We study five...

We examine how requiring platforms to give rivals resources, such as data, affects innovation. Using simulations in which an initial firm obtains a head start on rivals and uses that head start to build a valuable resource that subsequently gives it a competitive advantage over rivals when...

We study the impact of platform choice (iOS vs Android) for firms that build apps for smart phones. We merge app data from Sensor Tower® with financial performance data from Crunchbase®. We find that apps that begin on Android have greater average downloads per month. However, apps with the...

We study the competition effects of platforms entering their own marketplaces in the context of mobile applications. Using a rich panel dataset of monthly observed applications on the most prominent mobile ecosystems, Apple and Android, we seek to understand how the launch of a new application...

A current controversy in antitrust is use of the consumer welfare standard (CWS). CWS in effect states that a merger or anticompetitive business practice is illegal if it makes consumers worse off than they would be otherwise (Wilson, 2019). Salop (2010) holds that Congress intended something...

We examine businesses' choices of mobile platforms – iOS and Android – contrasting firms in the U.S., India, and Japan. Using Crunchbase® data on startups seeking external funding, we find that many of the 47 business categories analyzed are likely to use mobile platforms, but some have a...

Government regulators often establish maximum prices for regulated services. This paper explains the proper economic principles for establishing such constraints. The principles imply a range - an upper limit and a lower limit - that constrain the regulator's discretion. Principles emerging from...