Stigler Center Committee on Digital Platforms

A consensus emerged from the Stigler Center's 2018 conference on Digital Platforms and Concentration that the issues raised by these platforms must be addressed. To provide independent expertise on the appropriate policy responses, the Stigler Center formed a Committee on Digital Platforms. The Stigler Center’s 2019 conference, Digital Platforms, Markets and Democracy: A Path Forward, discussed the initial conclusions of this Committee.

The Committee's ultimate goal was to produce independent white papers on the platforms’ economic and societal impact that will inform decision and policy-making. The papers address the impact of digital platforms on one of four main topics:

• Economy and Market Structure* (including possible changes to antitrust policy)
• Privacy and Data Protection*
• The Media* (as a key pillar of a democratic society)
• The Political System* (and matters associated with the political arena)

*Disclaimer: The white paper represents the opinions of the authors/subcommittee, not necessarily those of the Stigler Center, the University of Chicago, the Booth School of Business, or its faculty. 

The Final Report and Policy Brief from the Committee is now available. 

The Committee members were selected based on their contributions to their field and taking into account their particular area of expertise. In order to ensure the academic independence of the Committee, membership was restricted solely to scholars and industry participants who have not participated in or consulted on litigation involving the leading digital platforms (Google, Facebook and Amazon) over the past two years (irrespective of the side). Participating venture capitalists and industry members are expected not to possess any current major investment (>$10 million) in any of the aforementioned digital platforms or their direct competitors.

Subcommittee on Economy and Market Structure 

• Chair: Fiona Scott Morton, Theodore Nierenberg Professor of Economics, Yale University School of Management
• Pascal Bouvier, Managing Partner and co-founder, MiddleGame Ventures
• Ariel Ezrachi, Slaughter and May Professor of Competition Law and Fellow of Pembroke College, University of Oxford
• Bruno Jullien, Research Faculty, Toulouse School of Economics
• Roberta Katz, Senior Research Scholar, Stanford University
• Gene Kimmelman, President and CEO, Public Knowledge
• Douglas Melamed, Professor of the Practice of Law, Stanford Law School
• Jamie Morgenstern, Assistant Professor, School of Computer Science, Georgia Tech

Subcommittee on Privacy and Data Protection 

• Chair: Lior Strahilevitz, Sidley Austin Professor of Law, University of Chicago
• Lorrie Cranor, Director and Bosch Distinguished Professor in Security and Privacy Technologies, CyLab Privacy and Security Institute, and FORE Systems Professor, Computer Science and Engineering & Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University
• Florencia Marotta-Wurgler, Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
• Jonathan Mayer, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Public Affairs, Princeton University
• Paul Ohm, Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Georgetown University Law Center
• Katherine Strandburg, Alfred B. Engelberg Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
• Blase Ur, Neubauer Family Assistant Professor of Computer Sciences, University of Chicago

Subcommittee on the Media Industry 

• Chair: Guy Rolnik, Clinical Associate Professor of Strategic Management, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
• Julia Cage, Assistant Professor of Economics, Sciences Po Paris
• Joshua Gans, Professor of Strategic Management and Jeffrey S. Skoll Chair of Technical Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
• Ellen Goodman, Professor of Law, Rutgers University
• Brian Knight, Professor of Economics, Brown University
• Andrea Prat, Richard Paul Richman Professor of Business and Professor of Economics, Columbia University
• Anya Schiffrin, Director of the Technology, Media, and Communications specialization, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University

Subcommittee on Political Systems 

• Chair: Nolan McCarty, Susan Dod Brown Professor of Politics and Public Affairs, Princeton University
• Rana Foroohar, Global Business Columnist and Associate Editor, Financial Times
• Andrew Guess, Assistant Professor of Politics and Public Affairs, Princeton University
• David Lazer, Professor of Political Science, Northeastern University
• Alexandra Siegel, Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University
• Nick Stephanopoulus, Professor of Law and Herbert and Marjorie Fried Research Scholar, University of Chicago
• Joshua Tucker, Professor of Politics, New York University

Read the Final Report

Additional Resources

The Committee meetings are partially supported by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

*Disclaimer: The white paper represents the opinions of the authors/subcommittee, not necessarily those of the Stigler Center, the University of Chicago, the Booth School of Business, or its faculty.