| Randy Stutz
Digital Technology, Competition Policy
The American Antitrust Institute published a series of two companion reports designed to give practical guidance to government policymakers on one of the most important and pressing challenges facing our economy and our democracy: combatting the social and economic and social power wielded by dominant digital technology firms.
1. Antitrust, Dominant Firms, And Public Policy Problems: A Framework For Maximizing Success By Minimizing Uncertainty creates a general framework for policymakers to assess potential outcomes when combatting dominant-firm behavior using federal antitrust litigation under existing legal doctrine. It explains that when a single firm achieves dominance in a critical market, it can give rise to complex public-policy problems with economic, social, and political dimensions that call upon government to craft creative solutions using a variety of available tools. The menu of available options includes antitrust law, economic and/or social regulation, intellectual property law, labor and trade policy, tax law, and other legal and regulatory mechanisms. And, it is up to policymakers to choose the right combination of tools and wield them collaboratively and effectively. View the report.
2. Antitrust Law And Dominant-firm Behavior In The Digital Technology Sector: Toward An Actionable Agenda For Policymakers applies the aforementioned framework to eight well-articulated and widely studied public-policy problems involving the major dominant firms in the digital technology sector. The report examines how each of the eight problems is perceived to cause, often in differing proportions, a combination of social, economic, and political ills linked to the large digital technology firms. It then applies the framework, making recommendations to policymakers as to how they should evaluate and consider supplementing an antitrust approach. View the report.
The two reports were authored by Randy Stutz, AAI’s Vice President of Legal Advocacy, and made possible by grant funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Questions or comments regarding either of the reports may be directed to Randy Stutz, Vice President of Legal Advocacy, at rstutz@antitrustinstitute.org or (202) 905-5420.
