American antitrust law came of age
in an era when two-sided markets—markets where a firm competes to attract both
providers and end users of a product or service—were relatively rare. Now, many
of America’s biggest and most influential companies are platforms that bring
together advertisers and eyeballs, taxi drivers and riders, merchants and
purchasers. Competition problems are acute because two-sided products tend to
feature network effects, leading to market concentration and entry barriers.
Some maintain that market power and anticompetitive effects on one side of a
two-sided market can be justified by benefits provided to purchasers on the
other side. How can antitrust law be used to protect competition in two-sided
markets? Do traditional notions of market power and competitive effects need to
be modified for these markets? This panel will feature perspectives on these
questions from both academia and legal practice.
Business meeting at program conclusion.