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Regulatory Spillovers and Data Governance: Evidence from the GDPR

Author

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  • Christian Peukert

    (Department of Strategy, Globalization and Society, HEC Lausanne, Université de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland)

  • Stefan Bechtold

    (Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland)

  • Michail Batikas

    (Supply Chain Management and Information Systems, Rennes School of Business, 35065 Rennes, France)

  • Tobias Kretschmer

    (Institute for Strategy, Technology and Organization, LMU Munich School of Management, 80539 Munich, Germany; CEPR Centre for Economic Policy Research, London EC1V 0DX, United Kingdom)

Abstract

We document short-run changes in websites and the web technology industry with the introduction of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We follow more than 110,000 websites and their third-party HTTP requests for 12 months before and 6 months after the GDPR became effective and show that websites substantially reduced their interactions with web technology providers. Importantly, this also holds for websites not legally bound by the GDPR. These changes are especially pronounced among less popular websites and regarding the collection of personal data. We document an increase in market concentration in web technology services after the introduction of the GDPR: Although all firms suffer losses, the largest vendor—Google—loses relatively less and significantly increases market share in important markets such as advertising and analytics. Our findings contribute to the discussion on how regulating privacy, artificial intelligence and other areas of data governance relate to data minimization, regulatory competition, and market structure.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian Peukert & Stefan Bechtold & Michail Batikas & Tobias Kretschmer, 2022. "Regulatory Spillovers and Data Governance: Evidence from the GDPR," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 41(4), pages 746-768, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormksc:v:41:y:2022:i:4:p:746-768
    DOI: 10.1287/mksc.2021.1339
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Carl Benedikt Frey & Giorgio Presidente, 2024. "Privacy regulation and firm performance: Estimating the GDPR effect globally," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 62(3), pages 1074-1089, July.
    2. Hsing Kenneth Cheng & D. Daniel Sokol & Xinyu Zang, 2024. "The rise of empirical online platform research in the new millennium," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 416-451, March.
    3. Guy Aridor & Rafael Jiménez-Durán & Ro'ee Levy & Lena Song, 2024. "The Economics of Social Media," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 62(4), pages 1422-1474, December.
    4. Qiwei Han & Carolina Lucas & Emila Aguiar & Patrícia Macedo & Zhenze Wu, 2023. "Towards privacy-preserving digital marketing: an integrated framework for user modeling using deep learning on a data monetization platform," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 1701-1730, September.
    5. Anna D’Annunzio & Antonio Russo, 2024. "Intermediaries in the Online Advertising Market," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(1), pages 33-53, January.
    6. Jin, Ginger Zhe & Leccese, Mario & Wagman, Liad, 2023. "How Do Top Acquirers Compare in Technology Mergers? New Evidence from an S&P Taxonomy," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    7. Klaus M. Miller & Julia Schmitt & Bernd Skiera, 2024. "The Impact of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on Online Usage Behavior," Papers 2411.11589, arXiv.org.
    8. Guy Aridor & Yeon-Koo Che & Brett Hollenbeck & Maximilian Kaiser & Daniel McCarthy, 2024. "Evaluating the Impact of Privacy Regulation on E-Commerce Firms: Evidence from Apple’s App Tracking Transparency," CESifo Working Paper Series 10928, CESifo.
    9. Jeanine Miklós-Thal & Avi Goldfarb & Avery Haviv & Catherine Tucker, 2024. "Frontiers: Digital Hermits," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(4), pages 697-708, July.
    10. Chen, Wanyi & Wang, Yiying & Wu, Dongjing & Yin, Xingqiang, 2024. "Can the establishment of a personal data protection system promote corporate innovation?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(9).
    11. Mert Demirer & Diego Jimenez-Hernandez & Dean Li & Sida Peng, 2024. "Data, Privacy Laws and Firm Production: Evidence from the GDPR," Working Paper Series WP 2024-02, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    12. Wang, Fangjun & Wang, Hao & Li, Jiyuan, 2024. "The effect of cybersecurity legislation on firm cost behavior: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    13. Guy Aridor & Yeon‐Koo Che & Tobias Salz, 2023. "The effect of privacy regulation on the data industry: empirical evidence from GDPR," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 54(4), pages 695-730, December.
    14. Jacopo Gambato & Bernhard Ganglmair & Julia K. Krämer, 2024. "Effective Regulation and Firm Compliance: The Case of German Privacy Policies," NBER Chapters, in: Data Privacy Protection and the Conduct of Applied Research: Methods, Approaches and their Consequences, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Luca Zamparini, 2024. "Data, digital markets, and the economic value of privacy," Eastern Journal of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 15, pages 147-164, December.
    16. Eugénie Coche & Ans Kolk & Václav Ocelík, 2024. "Unravelling cross-country regulatory intricacies of data governance: the relevance of legal insights for digitalization and international business," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 112-127, March.

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