Big Tech, Small Tech, and the Data Economy : What Role for EU Competition Law?
What role does, or should competition law play in the data economy? The proliferation of data into different fields of the economy presents a tremendous opportunity for economic growth. Data permits companies to improve the quality of the products...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/360561577731546238/Big-Tech-Small-Tech-and-the-Data-Economy-What-Role-for-EU-Competition-Law http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33124 |
| Summary: | What role does, or should competition
law play in the data economy? The proliferation of data into
different fields of the economy presents a tremendous
opportunity for economic growth. Data permits companies to
improve the quality of the products and services that they
offer to consumers. It also enables companies to reduce
their costs, increase their efficiency, and identify new
business opportunities. Reliance on data can therefore
enhance the competitiveness of firms and the economy more
generally. However, there is a concern that the data economy
has given rise to increasingly concentrated markets, where a
small number of firms has gained disproportionate market
power. Can the enforcement of competition law promote the
development of a competitive data economy? This article
examines the competition policy that the European Union
should adopt for the data economy generally and, more
specifically, for the Industry 4.010 the coming
digitalization of the manufacturing process and of the
industry more broadly. It explains that weakening the
enforcement of competition law to facilitate the development
of EU champions would be a misguided policy for the European
Union. A less competitive internal market, which would
necessarily result from a weaker enforcement of EU
competition law, is unlikely to increase the competitiveness
of EU firms in the global arena. |
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