Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Antitrust and Trade Regulation

PDF

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Series

2017

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Law

Big Data, Price Discrimination, And Antitrust, Ramsi Woodcock Aug 2017

Big Data, Price Discrimination, And Antitrust, Ramsi Woodcock

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Antitrust law today guarantees a particular distribution of wealth between consumers and firms by promoting competition in some markets, but allowing firms to retain pricing power in other markets, such as those in which a firm has achieved power through oligopoly or by fielding a superior product. By giving firms the power to identify individual consumers at the point of sale and determine the maximum price that each consumer can be made to pay for a product, big data will soon allow firms with pricing power to charge each consumer the highest price that the consumer is able to pay, …


The Bargaining Robot, Ramsi Woodcock May 2017

The Bargaining Robot, Ramsi Woodcock

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The primary threat of the rise of the machines is not to competition itself, but to the bargaining power of consumers, given any level of competition in the market. By enabling firms to interact with each consumer on an individual basis, technology will permit firms to tailor price to the highest level each individual consumer is willing to pay and to use tailored marketing to break each consumer’s will to hold out for a better deal, reducing consumer welfare for any given level of competition. By giving consumers more outside options, the promotion of competition can limit the effects of …


Innovation And Reverse Payments, Ramsi Woodcock Jan 2017

Innovation And Reverse Payments, Ramsi Woodcock

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Settlements of patent litigation between branded and generic drug makers that include a promise by the generic maker to stay out of the market, sometimes in exchange for a ‘reverse’ payment, increase the profits of drug makers at the expense of consumers. Some commentators argue that drug makers will invest these profits in innovation, ultimately making consumers better off. Drug market data suggest, however, that the resulting gains to consumers may still be insufficient to offset consumer losses from delayed access to generics. Even when innovation is taken into account, antitrust can most efficiently eliminate the risk of consumer harm …