Using data on 4.1 million apps at the Google Play Store from 2016 to 2019, we document that GDPR induced the exit of about a third of available apps; and in the quarters following implementation, entry of new apps fell by half. We estimate a structural model of demand and entry in the app market. Comparing long-run equilibria with and without GDPR, we find that GDPR reduces consumer surplus and aggregate app usage by about a third. Whatever the privacy benefits of GDPR, they come at substantial costs in foregone innovation.
Joint work with Rebecca Janßen, Michael E. Kummer, and Joel Waldfogel.
This is an online seminar using Cisco Webex. You will receive the login data with the invitation to the talk.
Reinhold Kesler, University of Zurich
Themen: Digitalisierung , Verbraucher , Wettbewerb und Regulierung