Digital Platform Competition

The University of Amsterdam's recently held a successful two-day academic event focusing on power problems and policy solutions. The event looked at ways to restore competition in digital platform markets. The programme consisted of 3 sessions featuring leading experts, research presentations, and open discussion.

Start date: 22 May 2025
End date: 23 May 2025

This event is now closed, but the programme, presentations and other outcomes can be viewed below.

Big Tech platforms have become an inseparable part of our daily lives—shaping how we communicate, access information, and make decisions. However, the natural monopoly dynamics of digital platform markets have concentrated immense powers in the hands of just a few private entities. For-profits have developed closed, shielded, and incompatible ecosystems that allow their owners to capture users and benefit. Positive platform externalities have allowed tipping to Big Techs that need not fear entry or rivalry. While the disciplining force of competition could foster better alternatives and greater choice, it remains constrained by structural barriers and anticompetitive practices.

Day 1 – Thursday 22 May

Session 1: Big Tech Power and Policy

09:30–12:00 | Aula, University of Amsterdam

On Thursday morning, internet expert and open source advocate Marleen Stikker (Waag Futurelab/HvA) and digital platform economist and behavioural theorist Paul Heidhues (DICE) presented their latest thinking on digital platform power problems, ecosystems theories of harm, and possible remedies to help restore open, free, and competitive online services.

Programme

9:30 Registration and coffee
10:00 Opening by chair Maarten Pieter Schinkel (UvA)
10:15–11.00 Marleen Stikker (Waag Futurelab/HvA) – How to Reclaim the Internet

Abstract: How to free ourselves from big tech (while we still can). Can I still use WhatsApp? Should I get rid of social media? Which search engine is the most reliable? Where is our data still safe? Should we fear or embrace AI? Now that the dangers of big tech are more visible than ever, it is high time to thoroughly review our relationship with the internet. And who can help us better than the one who has been warning us for years: internet pioneer and philosopher Marleen Stikker. In this concise and updated version of her book ‘The Internet is Broken, But We Can Repair It’, she gives the reader plenty of practical tips and tricks, and teaches us how to regain control over our digital lives. An internet based on democratic values is still possible! See Marleen Stikker’s book (in Dutch): Internet Survival Guide: How to regain our grip on technology.

11:00–12:00 Paul Heidhues (DICE) – A Theory of Digital Ecosystem

Paul Heidhues presentation slides can be viewed here.

Abstract: We develop a theory of digital ecosystems built on the premise that a multi-market firm can steer users it has in one market toward its products in other markets. Due to this “cross-market leverage,” a leader in an “access-point” market (where users begin their online journeys) derives a high value from offering services in connected markets (where users continue their journeys), and can thus make profitable takeovers. Indeed, because the firm has the outside option of acquiring, and steering users toward, its target’s competitor, it can take over the target at a discount. In contrast, other firms have no or smaller incentives for takeovers, explaining why ecosystems grow out of market leaders at access points. Conversely, cross-market leverage also implies that once an ecosystem has grown, it has an increased value of controlling access points, so it may go to great lengths to dominate these markets. Our theory suggests that ecosystems have mixed implications for consumer welfare. Under plausible assumptions, a to-be ecosystem takes over market leaders, and this consolidation of good services across markets benefits consumers in the short run. But an ecosystem’s takeovers and dominance of access points lower incentives for entry and innovation, and lower the efficiency of access-point markets with superior alternatives. Hence, the long-run welfare implications of ecosystems are often negative.

Inspiration

The opening of the new Amsterdam Center for Digital Competition inspired one participant to produce an Australian rock-song based on the lyrics of ABBA's 'Breaking up is never easy', that can be found here. There is also a video of the ABBA Big Tech Breakup-song.

Session 2: PhD Defence of Papers in the Economics of Platforms

14:00–15:30 | Aula, University of Amsterdam

Following the morning programme, UvA PhD candidate Ruben van Oosten sucessfully defended his thesis titled Papers in the Economics of Platforms.

Programme

14:00–15:30 Ruben van Oosten (University of Amsterdam) – Papers in the Economics of Platforms (PDF download).
The layman's talk by Ruben van Oosten (in Dutch) can be found here (PDF download)
A summary of the dissertation (in Dutch) was published on the SB website and can be read here.

Day 2 – Friday 23 May

Session 3: Tinbergen Institute Workshop on Structural Remedies for Restoring Platform Competition

09:00–12:00 | Tinbergen Institute, Amsterdam

On Friday morning, the Tinbergen Institute hosted academics who presented their latest research on platform market power and structural remedies to restore competition.

Programme

Jan Krämer (University of Passau) and Alexander Witte (University of Passau) – Evaluating Structural and Behavioral Remedies for Anticompetitive Conducts in the Ad Tech Ecosystem
Zlatina Georgieva (Utrecht University) and Todd Davies (University College London) – Google AdTech: Break Up or Break Out?
Shiva Shekhar (Tilburg University) and Antonio Russo (Institut Mines-Télécom Business School) – Digital Ecosystems: The AdTech Tax and Content Quality

Additional details about the workshop can be found on the Tinbergen Institute website.

Organisation

This event was organised by the UvA's Amsterdam Center for Digital Competition (ACDC) and the Tinbergen Institute.

Amsterdam Center for Digital Competition (ACDC)

The Amsterdam Center for Digital Competition (ACDC) is a new, not-for-profit and certainly not dominant research platform at University of Amsterdam that seeks to bring together academics, leading thinkers, and policymakers to discuss cutting-edge research on digital platforms, market structures, and regulatory interventions. Hosted by the University of Amsterdam, the event provides a forum for in-depth discussions on competition policy and structural remedies in digital markets.

More about the Amsterdam Center for Digital Competition (ACDC)

Tinbergen Institute (TI)

Tinbergen Institute is the graduate school and research institute in economics and business, jointly operated by the schools of economics of Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU).

More about Tinbergen Institute

Questions

For further questions or inquiries, please contact the organisers, Sander Onderstal, Maarten Pieter Schinkel, and Ruben van Oosten, at events-ase@uva.nl.

Digital Platform Competition

Day 1 – Thursday 22 May

Session 1: Big Tech Power and Policy

Inspiration

Session 2: PhD Defence of Papers in the Economics of Platforms

Day 2 – Friday 23 May

Session 3: Tinbergen Institute Workshop on Structural Remedies for Restoring Platform Competition

Organisation

Amsterdam Center for Digital Competition (ACDC)

Tinbergen Institute (TI)

Questions

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