Adrien Vigier: Market segmentation, information sale, and information foreclosure

Event details

Author:  Adrien Vigier

Abstract: We examine the sale of consumer data for discriminatory pricing. We first study the incentives of a duopolist to sell information to its competitor. In most cases, a duopolist will choose not to sell all relevant information; moreover, such foreclosure of information harms consumers. By contrast, an independent data broker sells all relevant information to both duopolists. Furthemore, we show that an independent data broker often gains by acquiring one of the duopolists. Our analysis thus provides theoretical support for recent policies aiming to prevent data brokers from competing in product markets.

Host: Peter Achim (York)

Cluster: Micro Theory