Issues

Futures of Digital Governance

Digital technologies will cause far-reaching social change on a global scale. Novel methods of governance will be needed to contend with the scope of this transformation.

Antitrust and Innovation Competition

Some antitrust policymakers are recognizing the importance of innovation competition, including nonprice competition and technological change. Antitrust policymakers must update their analysis to avoid errors.

Antitrust Policy toward Intermediaries: Digital Platforms and “Big Tech”

Antitrust authorities express concerns about the power of "Big Tech." Authorities should apply advances in the study of platforms to better understand the beneficial role of digital platforms serving as intermediaries.

Measuring the Private and Social Returns to R&D: Unintended Spillovers versus Technology Markets

Traditional methods of estimating returns to research and development (R&D) ignore gains from selling or licensing intellectual property. Counting these gains shows they are an important source of returns to R&D.

Creating a Platform for Costless Personalization in Clothing

A case study of Threadless reveals the importance of co-inventions combining understanding of technology with business processes. Threadless creates digital dark matter, benefits that cannot easily by measured.

Leveraging Value Creation to Drive the Growth of B2B Platforms

Some assume that Business-to-Business (B2B) platforms are similar to Business-to-Consumer (B2C) platforms. However, the needs of B2B consumers are more complex. B2B platforms create value differently than B2C platforms.

Digital Dystopia

Autocratic states could use social credit scoring systems to discourage dissent. When social ties are strong, citizens are more likely to question a state’s social credit score.

The Diffusion of Disruptive Technologies

A few urban areas generate most disruptive technologies such as cloud computing. Opportunities associated with these technologies spread slowly across regions, firms, industries, and occupations.

Racial Diversity in Private Capital Fundraising

Black and Hispanic-owned funds find it harder to attract investors than one would expect, given that such funds perform as well as other funds. Data shows this is due to investors’ lower demand for diverse fund managers.

Shining a Light on Dark Patterns

Some user interfaces include “dark patterns” that exploit cognitive bias to manipulate users. Two experiments show that subtle dark patterns are more dangerous, because consumers are less likely to reject them.