Lianos, Ioannis; Carballa-Smichowski, Bruno; (2022) A Coat of Many Colours - New Concepts and Metrics of Economic Power in Competition Law and Economics. Journal of Competition Law & Economics 10.1093/joclec/nhac002. (In press).

Preview

Text nhac002.pdf - Published Version Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

The digital economy has brought new business models that rely on zero-price markets and multi-sided platforms nested in business ecosystems. The traditional concept of market power used by competition authorities cannot engage with this new reality in which (economic) power manifests beyond price and output within a relevant market. These developments have culminated in multiple recent calls for a more multidimensional concept of power. Consequently, suggestions over new concepts of power triggering antitrust/regulatory intervention, such as ‘strategic market status’, ‘conglomerate market power’, ‘intermediation power’, ‘structuring digital platforms’, or ‘gatekeepers’ have proliferated to complete, or even substitute, the archetypical concept of market or monopoly power in competition law. However, a theoretical framework for this multidimensional concept of power that can set the basis for new metrics is missing. This article makes three contributions in that direction. First, we conceptualize different forms of (economic) power that go beyond competition within a single relevant market in terms of competition law and economics. Second, we propose new metrics to measure two forms of power: panopticon power and power based on differential dependency between value co-creators. Third, we test the latter and show how they could reduce false positives and false negatives when assessing dominance.

Download activity - last month

Export as XMLJSONCSV

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as JSONXMLCSV

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as JSONXMLCSV

Archive Staff Only

View Item