CEU eTD Collection (2023); Kakhidze, Mariami: Designing Remedies from a Consumer Welfare Perspective for Big Tech Companies' Practice of Self-Preferencing in the EU and US

CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2023
Author Kakhidze, Mariami
Title Designing Remedies from a Consumer Welfare Perspective for Big Tech Companies' Practice of Self-Preferencing in the EU and US
Summary This thesis aims to provide a framework for designing effective remedies for big tech companies’ self-preferencing practices from a consumer welfare perspective in the European Union and the United States. The thesis defines the scope of consumer welfare and identifies the relevant considerations for its determination. As substantive issues inspire remedies, the thesis describes self-preferencing practice. The analysis starts by discussing the practice of the Google Shopping case as an example of a self-preferencing case decided differently by the EU General Court and Federal Trade Commission. After presenting the perception of the issue in the different legal systems, the thesis describes their regulatory environment, including the remedies outlined in the Digital Markets Act in the EU and the Bill of American Innovation and Choice Online Act in the US. By challenging the effectiveness of the existing remedies, the thesis questions whether big tech companies’ self-preferencing practice creates the need to portray new types of remedies, untested in the digital market, such as randomization, mandatory sharing of algorithm/data, subsidization of a competitor, mandatory antitrust shutdown. The thesis concludes by identifying the relevant considerations for crafting effective remedies serving consumer welfare in the digital market.
Supervisor Schmidt-Kessen, Maria José
Department Legal Studies LLM
Full texthttps://www.etd.ceu.edu/2023/kakhidze_mariami.pdf

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