CLIP of the month: Strengthening Buyer Power as a Solution to Platform Market Power?

02.10.2018

Each month we publish a ‘CLIP of the month’, a publication that we have found to be controversial or thought provoking (if you haven’t noticed this feature before, see above, look to the right of your screen, just below the header!).

This month’s CLIP (available here) comes from two of the CMA’s economists, writing on the dynamics of platform-to-business relationships, and the options for market solutions in the face of calls for greater regulation. According to the authors, the key is finding a market-based counter-balance to the power held by platforms. The authors theorise that this could come from the collective bargaining power of the platform’s users.

It is welcome to see individuals from within the competition authorities considering the alternatives to regulation, which could prove difficult in such a fast moving area. It is also notable that the UK may seek to move in a different direction from many of the EU member states which appear to favour greater regulation. However, such market-based alternatives may themselves face competition law challenges, given the risks that exist around collective bargaining and exchange of information between competitors. At least some of these risks are recognised by the authors (and it is worth reading an economist’s perspective on this from David Parker of Frontier Economics, here). However, without some kind of safe harbour for such discussion across all relevant territories, the competition law risks are likely to remain a significant disincentive to such collective action. There may also be a problem of timing. In the case of existing businesses, the incentive and ability to challenge platform market power may be at their highest before true platform market power emerges.

The role and (potentially) regulation of platforms is likely to remain a key area of debate in competition policy for the foreseeable future.