Project description
Digital economy’s impact on competition and regulation
The role of the digital economy in modern societies is increasingly shaping industries and introducing new market dynamics. However, these developments challenge the traditional approaches to competition policy and regulation. The EU-funded DIGECON project will conduct innovative research aiming at the increase in competition between ecosystems involving multiple products and actors. It will also focus on platforms’ competition, as well as on the impact of digital revolution competition and cooperation along the vertical chains of production and distribution. Moreover, the project will investigate how data raises questions concerning the interplay between business strategy and consumer privacy.
Objective
The digital economy is of growing importance for society, but its development challenges the traditional approaches to competition policy and regulation, based on a benchmark of perfect competition that regulatory authorities aim at approaching in the various relevant markets. Economies of scale and scope are more the rule than the exception, network effects and multi-sidedness are pervasive, information and data are shaping industries, the boundaries of the markets are becoming blurred, and industry dynamics are on a new scale. These features make the perfect competition benchmark and the focus on individual markets less relevant, calling for a new conceptual framework for the analysis of competition in the digital economy.
The proposed research aims at breaking new ground on four related fronts. First, competition in the digital economy is increasingly between ecosystems involving multiple products and, often, multiple actors. Second, platforms compete for consumer attention, raising questions about consumer behaviour and platforms ability to influence it. Third, the digital revolution has drastically affected the way firms compete and cooperate along the vertical chains of production and distribution. Finally, the role of data raises questions not only about the interplay between business strategy and consumer privacy, but also about how the quest for data can shape entry and competition in product markets.
On each theme, several avenues are proposed to enhance our understanding of how competition works in the digital era; the insights will shed light on desirable changes for competition policy and regulation interpreted in a broad sense, including policies that affect the functioning of digital markets such as consumer or privacy protection policies.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences political sciences political transitions revolutions
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2021-ADG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
31080 Toulouse
France
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.