The algorithm driven conduct of platform operators, as the expert handlers of big data, is starting to challenge the way in which competition law needs to be enforced. Businesses, especially platform operators, acquire data and particularly pricing information from other businesses in real-time....

A model-based derivation of an effective antitrust policy requires an economic framework that includes three actors: a cartel, a group of competing fringe firms, and a welfare maximizing antitrust authority. In existing models of cartel behavior, at least one of these actors is always missing....

This paper analyzes the inner workings of cartels. To understand how sanctioning institutions prevent cartel formation we study their effect on firms' communication in a laboratory experiment. Using machine learning to organize the chat communication into topics, we find that firms are less...