We examine how requiring platforms to give rivals resources, such as data, affects innovation. Using simulations in which an initial firm obtains a head start on rivals and uses that head start to build a valuable resource that subsequently gives it a competitive advantage over rivals when...

This paper examines firms' choices to use mobile platforms — namely iOS and Android. Using Crunchbase® data on startups seeking external funding, we find that 16 of 47 business categories are likely to use mobile platforms. 10 of these 16 exhibit no platform preferences, implying...

Government regulators often establish maximum prices for regulated services. This paper explains the proper economic principles for establishing such constraints. The principles imply a range - an upper limit and a lower limit - that constrain the regulator's discretion. Principles emerging from...

We examine broadband's impacts on entrepreneurship, income, and employment in general and separately by gender and for whites versus minorities in the U.S. for 2000 - 2019. Using Current Population Surveys and matching, we find that broadband access significantly impacted the decision to be...

We study the competition effects of platforms entering their own marketplaces in the context of mobile applications. Using a rich panel dataset of monthly observed applications on the most prominent mobile ecosystems, Apple and Android, we seek to understand how the launch of a new application...

We study the competition effects of platforms entering their own marketplaces in the context of mobile applications. Using a rich panel dataset of monthly observed applications on the most prominent mobile ecosystems, Apple and Android, we seek to understand how the launch of a new application...

A current controversy in antitrust is use of the consumer welfare standard (CWS). CWS in effect states that a merger or anticompetitive business practice is illegal if it makes consumers worse off than they would be otherwise (Wilson, 2019). Salop (2010) holds that Congress intended something...

We examine businesses' choices of mobile platforms – iOS and Android – contrasting firms in the U.S., India, and Japan. Using Crunchbase® data on startups seeking external funding, we find that many of the 47 business categories analyzed are likely to use mobile platforms, but some have a...