Whether “Big Data” Could Facilitate Monopoly in the Platform Economy and How We Shall Step In

CPI Asia Column edited by Vanessa Yanhua Zhang (Global Economics Group) present:

Whether “Big Data” Could Facilitate Monopoly in the Platform Economy and How We Shall Step In – By Susan Ning, Han Wu & Yangdi Zhao
(King & Wood Mallesons, Beijing)

“Big Data”, one of the hot topics in recent years, has been widely discussed. The impact of “Big Data” on competition interests both practitioners and scholars. The major concern from antitrust perspective is whether “Big Data” could facility monopoly, especially in the platform economy where data could be easily accessed or collected by platforms from multiple sides of the market. The purpose of this article is to review the role of data in different stages of platform development and analyze the possibility of monopoly based on the interplay between data and platforms. We will also discuss when and how authorities should intervene with the anti-competitive behaviors in the platform economy driven by “Big Data” in different scenarios. 

• General introduction of recent discussion about whether “Big Data” will facilitate monopoly

In the digital age, the volume and variety of data generated on a daily basis is growing at an unprecedented rate, so is companies’ ability to analyze and exploit it. The innovative application and exploitation of data is of immense value to businesses. This gives rise to concerns that the control of vast amounts of data gives such businesses enormous power.  As observed