Dirk Auer
@AuerDirk
Director of Competition Policy @LawEconCenter. Guest Professor @LCII_ULg. Antitrust law, economics, digital markets & innovation. **
๐ On August 4 at 9:00 AM GMT+8, @LawEconCenter and the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission will gather scholars and experts in Taipei for "Shaping the Future or Being Shaped by It? Competition, Industrial Policy, and Innovation." Register from the ๐๐ฝ
As legal and regulatory decisions play a growing role in shaping platform design, @AuerDirk writes in @JapanToday that striking the right balance between oversight and market-led innovation matters. Read Dirk's full paper from the ๐ below.
This was entirely predictable. When corporate managers, who control other peopleโs resources, can pursue the interests of lots of different groups, they can justify virtually any decision they make. They have cover to allocate those resources in a way that benefits themโฆ
Remember โstakeholder capitalism?โ A new study sheds light on why that fad faded. wapo.st/4nKqrc3
Libertarianism is working far better in Argentina than almost anyone expected, even libertarians
๐จ Breaking | Argentinaโs Economy Grew 7.6% Year-on-Year in Q2, Econometrica Reports
1/ In 2024, India proposed an ex-ante digital competition law inspired by the EUโs Digital Markets Act (DMA). But does India really need it? A thread on why its existing competition regime may be better suited for the digital economy. ๐งต economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/et-comโฆ
A couple of quick thoughts on what the Senate rejection of the AI regulatory moratorium means for U.S. technology policy going forward: 1) California and New York will now take the lead in shaping national AI policy. Their efforts to advance European-style technology mandatesโฆ
Oh hey, would you look at that, German DPAs want Apple and Google to kick DeepSeek off their AppStores because of GDPR violations. They're asking Apple and Google to gatekeep! But I thought gatekeeping was bad? ๐ค
The real question is whether consumers value AI overviews in their search results. My personal experience (and the studies cited in the piece) suggests the answer is a clear yes. Perhaps the problem is not Google or AI, but traditional media's aging business model...
This is Zephyr Teachout on grocery prices level of wrong. Even if rising concentration were a problem regardless of effect, there isnโt rising concentration where it matters.
This single fact makes the case for banning most mergers. ๐ "Using comprehensive firm-level microdata from the U.S. Economic Census, we show that M&A account for 44% of the increase in aggregate concentration [between 1982 and 2012]." papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfโฆ
Join @laz_radic and a panel of experts in New Delhi ๐ฎ๐ณ on 8/7/25 for โ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ด๐ฒ: ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ณ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐๐ผ๐น๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐น๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ๐โ ๐ with details in replies.
๐จ #EventAlert | #SpeakerAnnouncement As the countdown begins for the ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป โ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ด๐ฒ: ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ณ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐๐ผ๐น๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐น๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐นโฆ
Think you have a pretty good competition law master's thesis? Then you'll want to apply to @LawEconCenter's First Competition Law Master's Thesis Award!
๐ ANNOUNCEMENT ๐ The International Center for Law & Economics (@LawEconCenter) is launching theย first edition of the Competition Law Masterโs Thesis Award. The jury comprises Mariateresa Maggiolino (@Unibocconi), Alison Jones (@KingsCollegeLon), Anna Tzanaki (@universityleeds),โฆ
๐ ANNOUNCEMENT ๐ The International Center for Law & Economics (@LawEconCenter) is launching theย first edition of the Competition Law Masterโs Thesis Award. The jury comprises Mariateresa Maggiolino (@Unibocconi), Alison Jones (@KingsCollegeLon), Anna Tzanaki (@universityleeds),โฆ
"The blueprint forย the futureย of the internet is being drawn up in courts and government agencies." A new oped from @AuerDirk in @japantimes explores the potential consequences of recent control exerted by courts around the world over online policy. ๐ in replies.
JUST OUT: new @LawEconCenter wp on โSuperior bargaining power, antitrust, and digital markets: a transaction cost economics perspectiveโ
Here are my monthly reading suggestions. Topics include #computationalantitrust, efficient data sharing, an assessment of the DMA, GenAI through the lens of complexity science, proposals to fix the GDPR, new measures of innovator networks, articles operationalizing dynamicโฆ
Scholars from @LawEconCenter just filed a brief to the 9th Circuit in Epic Games v Apple, noting this injunction misapplies antitrust principles and could harm innovation. A short ๐งต summarizing their arguments. @geoffmanne, @DanielJGilman1, @AuerDirk. ๐ in replies. 1/6
Today, Meta is making changes to advertising settings on Facebook and Instagram for EU users. This is a response to EU Commission's decision that found their earlier "pay or consent" model not compliant with the EU DMA regulation.