Law Commons^™

Debunking The Myths Over Big Data And Antitrust, Maurice Stucke, Allen Grunes

College of Law Faculty Scholarship

What are the implications of Big Data on competition policy? Some argue little, if any, and offer several reasons why Big Data is a passing fad. We disagree.As we discuss, competition law can play an important role in maximizing the benefits of a data-driven economy, while mitigating its risks. Our aim here is to first address the competitive significance of Big Data and, second, take on ten myths downplaying Big Data’s antitrust significance.

The Beneficent Monopolist, Maurice Stucke, Allen Grunes

College of Law Faculty Scholarship

In examining Comcast's proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable (TWC), we assess three of the arguments Comcast likely will make to the Department of Justice and FCC. Comcast will likely argue that its acquisition of TWC is unlikely to lessen competition because: (a) the broadband market is becoming more competitive: Google has introduced Google Fiber in a number of markets, and mobile broadband offered by wireless providers like AT&T and Sprint is competitive with fixed broadband; (b) Netflix and traditional media companies have sufficient clout to negotiate with Comcast and the government should not intervene on their behalf; and (c) …

The Implications Of Behavioral Antitrust, Maurice E. Stucke

College of Law Faculty Scholarship

Behavioral economics is now mainstream. It is also timely. The financial crisis raised important issues of market failure, weak regulation, moral hazard, and our lack of understanding about how many markets actually operate.

As behavioral economics (with its more realistic assumptions of human behavior) goes mainstream in academia and the business world, one expects lawyers and economists to bring the current economic thinking to the competition agencies. How should the competition agencies respond?

This paper examines how competition authorities can consider the implications of behavioral economics on four levels: first as a gap filler, i.e., to help explain “real world” …

Reconsidering Antitrust's Goals, Maurice E. Stucke

College of Law Faculty Scholarship

Antitrust policy today is an anomaly. On the one hand, antitrust is thriving internationally. On the other hand, antitrust’s influence has diminished domestically. Over the past thirty years, there have been fewer antitrust investigations and private actions. Today the Supreme Court complains about antitrust suits, and places greater faith in the antitrust function being subsumed in a regulatory framework. So what happened to the antitrust movement in the United States?

Two import factors contributed to antitrust policy’s domestic decline. The first is salience, especially the salience of the U.S. antitrust goals. In the past thirty years, enforcers and courts abandoned …

Behavioral Antitrust, Maurice E. Stucke, Amanda P. Reeves

College of Law Faculty Scholarship

Competition policy is entering a new age. Interest in competition laws has increased world-wide, and the United States no longer holds a monopoly on antitrust policy. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the question for competition authorities is whether and to what extent does bounded rationality, self-interest and willpower matter.

This article explores how the behavioral economics literature will advance competition policy. With increasing interest in the United States and abroad in the implications of behavioral economics for competition policy, this Article first provides an overview of behavioral economics. It next discusses how the assumption of rational, self-interested profit-maximizers …