Description: The report highlights the challenges and peculiarities of regulating digital platforms in multi-sided markets, emphasizing the need for competition regulators to adapt traditional antitrust tools for digital economies. It discusses the inadequacy of current market determination methods in capturing the complex dynamics of digital platforms, suggests incorporating platform typology and indirect network effects into analyses, and critiques the inconsistent use of qualitative factors in regulatory decisions. The report concludes with recommendations for legislative amendments and the establishment of guiding principles to better address the multi-faceted nature of digital platforms, urging objective, evidence-based approaches for determining market substitutability.
Attribution: Chawdhry, Mohit. Determining the Relevant Market for Digital Multi-Sided Platforms. Issue No. 013, December 2021, Esya Centre.