Digital platforms controlled by Alibaba, Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, Tencent and Uber have transformed not only the ways we do business, but also the very nature of people's everyday lives. It is of vital importance that we understand the economic principles governing how these platforms operate. This book explains the driving forces behind any platform business with a focus on network effects. The authors use short case studies and real-world applications to explain key concepts such as how platforms manage network effects and which price and non-price strategies they choose. This self-contained text is the first to offer a systematic and formalized account of what platforms are and how they operate, concisely incorporating path-breaking insights in economics over the last twenty years.

In many economic sectors - the digital industries being first and foremost - the market power of dominant firms has been steadily increasing and is rarely challenged by competitors. Existing competition laws and regulations have been unable to make markets more contestable. The book argues that a new competition tool is needed: market investigations. This tool allows authorities to intervene in markets which do not function as they should, due to market features such as network effects, scale economies, switching costs, and behavioural biases. The book explains the role of market investigations, assesses their use in the few jurisdictions where they exist, and discusses how they should be designed. In so doing, it provides an invaluable and timely instrument to both practitioners and academics.

Digital platforms controlled by Alibaba, Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, Tencent and Uber have transformed not only the ways we do business, but also the very nature of people's everyday lives. It is of vital importance that we understand the economic principles governing how these platforms operate. This book explains the driving forces behind any platform business with a focus on network effects. The authors use short case studies and real-world applications to explain key concepts such as how platforms manage network effects and which price and non-price strategies they choose. This self-contained text is the first to offer a systematic and formalized account of what platforms are and how they operate, concisely incorporating path-breaking insights in economics over the last twenty years.

Thoroughly revised according to classroom feedback, Industrial Organization: Markets and Strategies offers an up-to-date and rigorous presentation of modern industrial organization that blends theory with real-world applications and derives implications for firm strategy and competition policy. This comprehensive textbook acquaints readers with the most important models for understanding strategies chosen by firms with market power and shows how such firms adapt to different market environments. The second edition includes new and revised formal models and case studies. Formal models are presented in detail, and analyses are summarized in 'lessons' which highlight the main insights. Theories are complemented by numerous real-world cases that engage students and lead them to connect theories to real situations. Chapters include review questions, exercises, and suggestions for further reading to enhance the learning experience, and an accompanying website offers additional student exercises, as well as teaching slides.

Thoroughly revised according to classroom feedback, Industrial Organization: Markets and Strategies offers an up-to-date and rigorous presentation of modern industrial organization that blends theory with real-world applications and derives implications for firm strategy and competition policy. This comprehensive textbook acquaints readers with the most important models for understanding strategies chosen by firms with market power and shows how such firms adapt to different market environments. The second edition includes new and revised formal models and case studies. Formal models are presented in detail, and analyses are summarized in 'lessons' which highlight the main insights. Theories are complemented by numerous real-world cases that engage students and lead them to connect theories to real situations. Chapters include review questions, exercises, and suggestions for further reading to enhance the learning experience, and an accompanying website offers additional student exercises, as well as teaching slides.

This book analyses telecommunications markets from early to mature competition, filling the gap between the existing economic literature on competition and the real-life application of theory to policy. Paul De Bijl and Martin Peitz focus on both the transitory and the persistent asymmetries between telephone companies, investigating the extent to which access price and retail price regulation stimulate both short- and long-term competition. They explore and compare various settings, such as non-linear versus linear pricing, facilities-based versus unbundling-based or carrier-select-based competition, non-segmented versus segmented markets. On the basis of their analysis, De Bijl and Peitz then formulate guidelines for policy. This book is a valuable resource for academics, regulators and telecommunications professionals. It is accompanied by simulation programs devised by the authors both to establish and to illustrate their results.

This book examines competition and regulation in the liberalized telecommunications markets. It fills the gap between the existing economic literature on competition and the real-life application of theory to policy. Paul de Bijl and Martin Peitz analyze a broad range of market constellations; in particular, the hot topic of access price regulation in asymmetric markets. The study is a valuable resource for academics, regulators and telecommunications professionals. It is accompanied by extensive simulation programs.

This volume contains a selection of papers that were presented at the CRESSE Conferences held in Chania, Crete, from July 6th to 8th, 2012, and in Corfu from July 5th to 7th, 2013. The chapters address current policy issues in competition and regulation. The book contains contributions at the frontier of competition economics and regulation and provides perspectives on recent research findings in the field. Written by experts in their respective fields, the book brings together current thinking on market forces at play in imperfectly competitive industries, how firms use anti-competitive practices to their advantage and how competition policy and regulation can address market failures. It provides an in-depth analysis of various ongoing debates and offers fresh insights in terms of conceptual understanding, empirical findings and policy implications. The book contributes to our understanding of imperfectly competitive markets, anti-competitive practices and competition policy and regulation.