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Competition

What Will It Take to Create Competitive Digital Markets?‌

Tech giants have been skirmishing almost daily with regulators and courts about their outsized power over our digital lives. Yale SOM economist Fiona Scott Morton recently published a collection of essays offering approaches to creating real competition in digital markets and making them work better for consumers. ‌

A row of people looking at smartphones
  • What’s the Right Price?

    A new study co-authored by Yale SOM’s Kevin Williams suggests that the zone pricing employed by home improvement chains benefits some consumers at the expense of others—and costs one of the two giants potential profits.

    A display at a Home Depot in Louisville, Kentucky. Photo: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
  • Can Antitrust Enforcement Protect Digital Consumers?

    More and more of our economic and social lives are being conducted through digital channels. Economist Fiona Scott Morton talks about how effective antitrust regulation and enforcement can ensure that consumers benefit from the next killer app.

    New York City subway riders using smartphones
  • Got a Great Idea? Tell Your Rivals

    A new study from Yale’s Jiwoong Shin finds that companies with truly innovative products may actually benefit from giving away some of their secrets.

    Illustration of lightbulbs being released from a cage
  • Why ‘Breaking Up’ Big Tech Probably Won’t Work

    Instead, argues Yale SOM’s Fiona Scott Morton, the government should exercise its regulatory powers to promote competition.

    A jigsaw puzzle with the logos of Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook
  • Companies Invest in Startups to Repair Weaknesses

    A study by Yale SOM’s Song Ma shows that companies tend to invest in startups when they are struggling, in order to gain access to innovation and shore up an area of weakness.

    An illustration showing executives in a tree watering a smaller plant.
  • Three Questions: Prof. Vineet Kumar on Facebook’s Move into Cryptocurrency

    On June 18, Facebook announced Libra, a new cryptocurrency intended to make it easy for individuals and companies to exchange payments anywhere in the world. We asked Prof. Vineet Kumar why a company that started by enabling people to share personal news is now building an alternative financial system.

    A scale with a bag of dollars on one side and a Facebook icon on the other
  • Three Questions: Prof. Soheil Ghili on Why Amazon Shoppers Aren’t Embracing Whole Foods

    To convert its Prime customers into Whole Foods shoppers, Amazon is cutting prices at the stores and offering discounts to Prime members. Yale SOM’s Soheil Ghili explains the company’s strategy.

    Fruit at a Whole Foods store
  • Gig Workers Value their Flexibility... a Lot

    Using extensive data on Uber drivers, Yale SOM’s Judith Chevalier and her co-authors examined their driving patterns to understand the economic value of flexible scheduling. They found that rideshare drivers would have to earn as much as double to accept less-flexible arrangements.

    Illustration of an Uber driver enjoying flexibility
  • Three Questions: Prof. Florian Ederer on ‘Killer Acquisitions’

    A recent lawsuit alleged that a billionaire investor bought the rights to a new drug just to eliminate a potential competitor. We asked Yale SOM's Florian Ederer to explain why a "catch-and-kill" merger can be damaging and what to do about the phenomenon.

    A bear trap with a pill bottle on the trigger
  • Competition Can Make Corporate Cultures More Socially Progressive

    A study by Yale SOM’s Alexander Zentefis and Gary Gorton suggests a progressive competitor can push a company to change under the right circumstances.

    An office with desks on a series of levels connected by stairs