Technology has worked enormous changes on almost every facet of our lives, markets, and economy. With this online symposium on Technology and Market Definition, AAI has asked contributors to use the lens of market definition to seize a fresh and fruitful perspective on the intersection of technology and antitrust. The symposium takes up two fundamental questions: (1) How do the dimensions of markets evolve with technological change? and (2) What are the practical implications of developments in technology for antitrust enforcement.
As a growing number of more recent antitrust cases make clear, technological change can affect virtually all aspects of antitrust analysis, ranging from market definition, to competitive effects, and efficiencies claims. AAI’s symposium contributors bring deep and multifaceted collective experience to this debate. They represent public and private antitrust enforcers, policymakers, and experts in technology and in industries featuring markets that have been upended by technology.
Contributors to the online symposium on Technology and Market Definition will explore a variety of issues, including:
- How technology influences how consumers make decisions.
- The role of technology in changing the scope of markets, especially digital ecosystems where consumer data is critical in creating connectivity.
- When and how should antitrust approaches to market definition change in light of technological advancements?
- When does technological change elevate the role of direct evidence in evaluating competitive effects?
- What are examples of when merger retrospectives support or contradict past market definitions in technologically evolving markets?
- What is required to show harm in cases involving multi-sided markets such as credit cards and online platforms?
The first part of the online symposium is a pair of pieces from a team of enforcers from the state Attorneys General and John Newman, a leading academic voice on antitrust and technology and former federal enforcer.
- Redefining Digital Market Definition by John M. Newman
- Market Definition in the Digital Economy: Considerations for How to Properly Identify Relevant Markets by Sarah Oxenham Allen, Brian Christensen, Joseph Conrad, Nicholas Grimmer, and Jennifer Pratt
These pieces contemplate the evolving reverberations of the Supreme Court’s decision in Ohio v. American Express and its implications for the role of market definition.
Forthcoming installments in the online symposium will further explore and elaborate on these themes, while examining the impact of technology on market definition in particular industries and the evolution of digital technology markets.
