Big data is transforming the world we live in. The instant availability of information impacts how individuals consume, how businesses thrive or fail, how society makes scientific discoveries, as well as how governments design and implement informed policies. At a pace and scale unanticipated 20 years ago, information technology is enabling consumers globally. Uncountable services make use of a...
Individuals value privacy, socializing, and disclosing. These conflicting actions raise important issues for individuals and regulators. This session surveys the economic foundations of privacy relying on insights from economic theory and empirical evidence. How much do consumers value privacy? Do (or should) consumers unambiguously strive for stronger privacy protection? How have businesses...
Privacy concerns are receiving increased attention by both lawmakers and firms. What are firms doing to protect the privacy of their customers? Are firms responding to market forces? To regulatory pressure? To other forces? This panel will explore the interaction between regulation, markets and other forces, and its implications for optimal legal policy. Florencia Marotta-Wurgler Professor of...
Unprecedented interconnectedness, data collection, and analytical capabilities are revolutionizing our interactions in society. Online platforms play a key role in this process as they shape the way consumers and firms use and commercialize the Internet. In data-driven platforms, product quality, for example search results and the targeting of advertisements, increases in the amount of data...
Privacy regulation in digital markets has been at the forefront of the policy debate on both sides of the Atlantic in the past years. This panel will discuss such issues as the EU-US Privacy Shield following the Safe Harbor ruling of the ECJ, the conditions for voluntary consumer consent to the processing of personal data, efforts to ensure individuals’ control over personal data collected by data...
Ziel dieser Studie ist die Abschätzung der zukünftigen Nachfrage nach Steine-Erden-Rohstoffen bis 2035. Hierfür werden – analog zu der 2011 veröffentlichten Vorgängerstudie – zwei Szenarien zur Entwicklung der volkswirtschaftlichen Rahmenbedingungen gebildet sowie das Substitutionspotenzial durch Sekundärrohstoffe untersucht. Hintergrund des Gutachtens sind unter anderem die Rohstoffstrategien auf ...
Potable water supply in Germany is highly fragmented. A consolidation of the industry could, therefore, lead to lower cost of water supply and price savings for the customers. In this paper we estimate a total cost function for potable water supply based on a unique sample of German water utilities observed between 2004 and 2010. Newly available data allows for a detailed cost modeling approach. Capital ...