Competition in Digital Markets: A Review of Expert Reports

Abstract

Digital markets are at the forefront of competition policy. Over the past five years, antitrust regulators around the world have opened many investigations on digital platforms and issued and/or commissioned dozens of studies or expert reports that are focused on understanding the general competitive dynamics of markets such as online search, social media, e-commerce/marketplaces, and mobile operating systems. These studies and reports represent the forefront of our current understanding of how to adapt antitrust policy to the digital era. However, much of their wealth of knowledge is lost because these documents, which add up to thousands of pages of text, figures and tables, have been scattered around the websites of different competition agencies. This literature review consolidates the knowledge of twenty-two reports and studies on topics related to competition in digital markets issued by eighteen different authorities and expert panels around the world over the past five years. It addresses how these reports portray the general competitive dynamics of digital markets, the benefits generated by digitalization, the potential competitive shortcomings of digital markets in general and of well-defined relevant markets in particular, and the solutions that have been proposed to increase competition in the digital world. It also indicates areas where further academic research is needed. In doing so, it should serve as a guide to antitrust scholars, regulators, and practitioners, helping them understand the frontier of knowledge on the competitive dynamics of digital markets and the range of materials that are available for those who want to explore a certain topic more in-depth.