Guofu Tan

China generally enforces antitrust law in a manner that suggests it has consumer interests in mind, although data are scarce and somewhat conflicted.

Governments can use recent developments in economic theory to design and regulate markets to deliver good results for consumers. Theory can also be used to design auctions used to sell rights to publically-owned goods like radio spectrum and lumber.

The relative quality of platforms and the number of complementary products compatible with each platform are important factors for platform providers to design optimal competitive strategies. The platform provides have incentives to engage in exclusive contracts with independent complementary firms. However, competition among platforms helps consumers, so these insights may have implications in antitrust enforcement.

In auctions where the item is sold to the highest bidder at the highest bid, it is difficult to distinguish between common value and private value auctions using bid data.