IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/jmaeth/v9y2021i2p97-119n2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digital Platforms and Competition Policy: A Business-Ethical Assessment

Author

Listed:
  • Wörsdörfer Manuel

    (Assistant Professor, Maine Business School & School of Computing and Information Science; University of Maine, USA)

Abstract

The debate around ‘big tech’ and competition law and policy has gained traction over the past few years – not least because of the various ongoing antitrust investigations in China, Europe, and the U.S. This paper builds on the renewed interest in the topic and discusses the key characteristics of digital markets, the business models and strategies of major tech platforms such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, and the corresponding antitrust issues. It does so by utilizing a distinct business ethics perspective, i.e., ordoliberalism. By doing so, the paper not only aims to enrich the current debate on big tech and antitrust; it also intends to illustrate the continuing relevance and importance of ‘German neoliberalism’ in the 21st century.

Suggested Citation

  • Wörsdörfer Manuel, 2021. "Digital Platforms and Competition Policy: A Business-Ethical Assessment," Journal for Markets and Ethics, Sciendo, vol. 9(2), pages 97-119, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:jmaeth:v:9:y:2021:i:2:p:97-119:n:2
    DOI: 10.2478/jome-2021-0007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/jome-2021-0007
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/jome-2021-0007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vanberg, Viktor J., 2005. "Market and state: the perspective of constitutional political economy," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 23-49, June.
    2. Vanberg, Viktor J., 2004. "The Freiburg School: Walter Eucken and Ordoliberalism," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 04/11, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    3. Gerrit Meijer, 2007. "Value and exchange in economic theorizing: The contribution of the Freiburg School," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 20(2), pages 171-185, September.
    4. Heinz G. Grossekettler, 1994. "On Designing an Institutional Infrastructure for Economies: The Freiburg Legacy after 50 Years," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 21(4), pages 9-24, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Peter Nedergaard & Holly Snaith, 2015. "‘As I Drifted on a River I Could Not Control’: The Unintended Ordoliberal Consequences of the Eurozone Crisis," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(5), pages 1094-1109, September.
    2. Wohlgemuth, Michael, 2008. "A European social model of state-market relations: the ethics of competition from a neo-liberal perspective," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 08/9, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    3. Viktor Vanberg, 2011. "Liberal constitutionalism, constitutional liberalism and democracy," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 1-20, March.
    4. Bernholz, Peter, 2010. "Politics, financial crisis, central bank constitution and monetary policy," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 10/5, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    5. Feld, Lars P. & Köhler, Ekkehard A., 2011. "Zur Zukunft der Ordnungsökonomik," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 11/2, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    6. Vanberg, Viktor J., 2009. "Consumer welfare, total welfare and economic freedom: on the normative foundations of competition policy," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 09/3, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    7. Vanberg, Viktor J., 2010. "Competition among governments: The state's two roles in a globalized world," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 10/2, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    8. Schnellenbach, Jan, 2012. "The economics of taxing net wealth: A survey of the issues," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 12/5, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    9. Klump Rainer & Wörsdörfer Manuel, 2015. "Paternalistic Economic Policies: Foundations, Implications and Critical Evaluations," ORDO. Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, De Gruyter, vol. 66(1), pages 27-60, January.
    10. Wohlgemuth, Michael, 2005. "Politik und Emotionen: Emotionale Politikgrundlagen und Politiken indirekter Emotionssteuerung," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 05/9, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    11. Viktor J. Vanberg, 2023. "Liberalism and democracy: legitimacy and institutional expediency," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 195(3), pages 251-268, June.
    12. Mingyu Liu, 2024. "Structural and functional analysis of Buchanan’s constitutional contract," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-8, December.
    13. Vanberg Viktor J., 2014. "Evolving Preferences and Welfare Economics: The Perspective of Constitutional Political Economy," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 234(2-3), pages 328-349, April.
    14. Malte Dold & Tim Krieger, 2023. "The ideological use and abuse of Freiburg’s ordoliberalism," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 195(3), pages 341-361, June.
    15. Lars P. Feld & Ekkehard A. Köhler, 2023. "Standing on the shoulders of giants or science? Lessons from ordoliberalism," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 195(3), pages 197-211, June.
    16. Adrian Pabst & Roberto Scazzieri, 2012. "The political economy of civil society," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 337-356, December.
    17. Krieger, Tim & Nientiedt, Daniel, 2022. "The renaissance of ordoliberalism in the 1970s and 1980s," Discussion Paper Series 2022-05, University of Freiburg, Wilfried Guth Endowed Chair for Constitutional Political Economy and Competition Policy.
    18. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2009. "Should National Happiness be Maximized?," Chapters, in: Amitava Krishna Dutt & Benjamin Radcliff (ed.), Happiness, Economics and Politics, chapter 14, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Miloš Krstić, 2012. "The Role Of Rules In The Evolution Of The Market System: Hayek’S Concept Of Evolutionary Epistemology," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 57(194), pages 123-140, July - Se.
    20. John Meadowcroft, 2020. "Buchanan at the American Founding: the constitutional political economy of a republic of equals and unequals," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 389-403, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ordoliberalism; Big Tech; Digital Markets; Antitrust; Competition Law and Policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B2 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925
    • K21 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Antitrust Law
    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:jmaeth:v:9:y:2021:i:2:p:97-119:n:2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.