Program (CET time)
June 10, 2022
All lectures include 15 min of discussion and 15 min of Q&A.
Rule is applied for this event
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9:00 – 10:30 Firms increasingly use data to offer consumers a personalized experience. This lecture will focus on personalized pricing---the practice of offering different consumers different prices, based on their perceived preferences. We will discuss different ways in which such personalization can be (directly or indirectly) implemented. We will then study its impact on competition, both in the short-run (fixing market structure) and in the long-run (allowing for firm entry and exit). We will also evaluate different policy proposals when only some firms are able to use data to personalize prices Discussant: Helen Ralston, Partner, Oxera
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10:30 - 10:50 Break
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10:50 – 12:20 Product variety is a key component to consumer welfare in the many online markets where prices are effectively zero, and much of digital public policy is concerned with promoting entry. At the same time, product proliferation creates market congestion and makes consumer discovery challenging. Products compete for scarce visible space and consumer attention, limiting the visibility of, and benefits from, additional varieties. As a result, policies that promote entry may increase congestion and generate subtle countervailing effects on consumer welfare. This lecture will present novel evidence on such forces with data from the Google Play mobile app market. Using a natural experiment coming from a store re-design, we will test for both demand-side evidence of congestion effects and supply-side changes in product entry and design. A model of limited consumer consideration will allow us to evaluate the effects of congestion on consumer welfare coming from new varieties. More broadly, we will discuss the policy implications of these results and the potential tensions between public policy goals of promoting competition, and consumer and firm concerns about product proliferation and congestion. Discussant: Patricia Lorenzo, Senior Vice President, Compass Lexecon
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12:20 – 13:40 Lunch break
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13:40 - 15:10 Data is at the center of the ongoing digital revolution, enabling innovations and customization but also raising concerns about its competitive effects. In this lecture we will discuss the links between data and competition, with a special emphasis on data-driven mergers. Discussant: Cristina Caffarra, Senior Consultant, Charles River Associates
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15:10 – 15:30 Break
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15:30 – 17:00 Katarzyna Czapracka, Partner, White & Case
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