Mapping antitrust onto digital ecosystems

Caffarra, C, Gawer, A and Jacobides, M G (2024) Mapping antitrust onto digital ecosystems. Competition Policy International CPI Chronicle.

Abstract

The assessment of “ecosystem power” has come to occupy centerstage in antitrust cases involving large digital firms, as regulators are finding traditional market-by-market analysis increasingly inadequate to capture how competition works between firms holding multiple “assets and capabilities”. While antitrust economics is lagging behind in developing usable tools for the analysis of “ecosystems”, this is an established and growing area of study for strategic management and business scholars. We describe how recent antitrust practice has tended to fall back on established “theories of harm” for expediency; we also identify various strands of the management literature that could contribute to antitrust analysis. We are still missing practical incentives for scholars to independently develop a multidisciplinary approach, and regulators should play an active part in convening discussions, providing data and accelerating progress.