--- title: "How Do Competition Policy and Data Brokers Shape Product Market Competition?" authors: - name: "Koski, Heli" url: "https://www.etla.fi/henkilot/koski-heli/" sameAs: - "https://twitter.com/heli_koski" date_published: "2018-10-26" series: "ETLA Working Papers" series_number: "61" issn: - "2323-2420" - "2323-2439" jel_codes: - "L11" - "L13" - "L41" - "L81" language: "en" publisher: "ETLA Economic Research" pdf_url: "https://www.etla.fi/wp-content/uploads/ETLA-Working-Papers-61.pdf" keywords: - "Data brokers" - "Market for data" - "Competition" - "Competition policy" identifier: "https://www.etla.fi/julkaisut/id/ETLA-Working-Papers-61" abstract: "This paper empirically analyzes how a data broker affects competition in oligopolistic product markets. It examines a unique case concerning the two dominant Finnish food retail companies’ voluntary withdrawal from information exchange via a data broker. Moreover, the companies jointly approached the Finnish antitrust authority, originating an investigation whether their prior horizontal information exchange was illegal. This resulted in the permanent termination of a data broker’s business in the Finnish food retail sector. The empirical analysis employs quarterly data from the food retail sector of the old EU15 countries for 2005–2017. The difference-in-differences model is used to explore the competitive impacts of a termination of vertical and horizontal information exchange via a data broker in the Finnish food retail sector. Data suggest that competition was less fierce and product prices higher after the termination of information exchange via a data broker. Longer-term evidence on the price increase in the absence of a data broker is inconclusive. Furthermore, discontinuation of data exchange from the downstream to the upstream firms facilitated downstream bargaining power and generated a long-term increase in the gap between retail and producer prices." --- # How Do Competition Policy and Data Brokers Shape Product Market Competition? **Published:** 2018-10-26 **Categories:** Publications, Working Papers **URL:** https://www.etla.fi/en/publications/how-do-competition-policy-and-data-brokers-shape-product-market-competition/ #### Abstract This paper empirically analyzes how a data broker affects competition in oligopolistic product markets. It examines a unique case concerning the two dominant Finnish food retail companies’ voluntary withdrawal from information exchange via a data broker. Moreover, the companies jointly approached the Finnish antitrust authority, originating an investigation whether their prior horizontal information exchange was illegal. This resulted in the permanent termination of a data broker’s business in the Finnish food retail sector. The empirical analysis employs quarterly data from the food retail sector of the old EU15 countries for 2005–2017. The difference-in-differences model is used to explore the competitive impacts of a termination of vertical and horizontal information exchange via a data broker in the Finnish food retail sector. Data suggest that competition was less fierce and product prices higher after the termination of information exchange via a data broker. Longer-term evidence on the price increase in the absence of a data broker is inconclusive. Furthermore, discontinuation of data exchange from the downstream to the upstream firms facilitated downstream bargaining power and generated a long-term increase in the gap between retail and producer prices. --- ## Additional Information **Kirjoittajat:** Koski, Heli **Kansikuva:** https://www.etla.fi/wp-content/uploads/etla-working-papers-61-kansi.jpg **Lataa Pdf:** https://www.etla.fi/wp-content/uploads/ETLA-Working-Papers-61.pdf **Key Words:** Data brokers, Market for data, Competition, Competition policy **Jel:** L11, L13, L41, L81 **Paivays:** 26.10.2018 **Sivuja:** 35 **Kieli:** en **Sarja:** ETLA Working Papers **Sarja Nro:** 61 **Issn:** 2323-2420, 2323-2439 (Pdf) **Saatavuus:** 2 **Publication Research:** No ## Bibliographic metadata (JSON-LD) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "@id": "https://www.etla.fi/julkaisut/id/ETLA-Working-Papers-61", "headline": "How Do Competition Policy and Data Brokers Shape Product Market Competition?", "inLanguage": "en", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "ETLA Economic Research", "url": "https://www.etla.fi", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.etla.fi/wp-content/uploads/logo-etla_logo.svg" } }, "datePublished": "2018-10-26T00:00:00+00:00", "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Koski, Heli", "url": "https://www.etla.fi/henkilot/koski-heli/", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/heli_koski" ] } ], "abstract": "This paper empirically analyzes how a data broker affects competition in oligopolistic product markets. It examines a unique case concerning the two dominant Finnish food retail companies’ voluntary withdrawal from information exchange via a data broker. Moreover, the companies jointly approached the Finnish antitrust authority, originating an investigation whether their prior horizontal information exchange was illegal. This resulted in the permanent termination of a data broker’s business in the Finnish food retail sector. The empirical analysis employs quarterly data from the food retail sector of the old EU15 countries for 2005–2017. The difference-in-differences model is used to explore the competitive impacts of a termination of vertical and horizontal information exchange via a data broker in the Finnish food retail sector. Data suggest that competition was less fierce and product prices higher after the termination of information exchange via a data broker. Longer-term evidence on the price increase in the absence of a data broker is inconclusive. 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