The emergence of online platforms has decreased transaction costs considerably, increased price transparency and hence enabled consumers to more easily compare and purchase products and services. At the same time, platforms may achieve market power leading to undesirable market outcomes. Is existing consumer protection law appropriate to address concerns arising on online platforms? Are...
The sharing economy relies on online platforms to bring together providers and consumers of goods and services. How do platforms compete in these two-sided markets characterized by direct and indirect network effects? Which pricing strategies do these new online platforms adopt? How does rapid innovation ubiquitous in these markets affect competition between platforms? How do new digital...
Gerd Billen, State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection, received the BCCP Distinguished Policy Fellow Award. The fellowship was awarded by Gerhard Wagner, Professor of Law, Humboldt University Berlin.
Digital markets are characterized by consumer targeting and customization of products and services. Firms such as Amazon or Google use algorithms to increase their product quality, such as search results or the targeting of advertising. These algorithms rely on past consumer search and browsing behavior to learn and improve results in real-time. This session discusses the extent to which the use...
Concluding remarks held by Hannes Ullrich, research associate in the Firms and Market department, DIW Berlin.
The Berlin IO Day is a one-day workshop sponsored by the Berlin Centre for Consumer Policies (BCCP) and supported by Berlin's leading academic institutions, including DIW Berlin, ESMT, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, and WZB which takes place twice a year, in the fall and in the spring. The aim is to create an international forum for high quality research...
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...
Scarce resources, the rising demand for agricultural products and growing land-use competition between the production of energy and food have increased the importance of strategies for food security. In the research project “Global Food Markets: Global Food Security – Challenges for Production and Consumption” both supply and demand-oriented approaches that can realize...
The Berlin IO Day is a one-day workshop sponsored by the Berlin Centre for Consumer Policies (BCCP) and supported by Berlin's leading academic institutions, including DIW Berlin, ESMT, Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, and WZB which takes place twice a year, in the Fall and in the Spring. The aim is to create an international...