Università Roma Tre

The course aims to provide students with the basic contents and tools for understanding and analyzing digital markets. The first part of the course is dedicated to the study of the fundamentals of the functioning of markets and industrial policies. A specific study on the characteristics of the markets and digital platforms will be provided in the second part. In particular, the main economic characteristics of digital platforms with two or more sides will be illustrated (such as network externalities, feedback loops, demand interdependence and multi-homing),since they are essential to understand the competitive dynamics and strategic conduct in these markets. In this context, particular attention will be paid to the role played by big data in the market dynamics and in the various business models implemented. The accumulation of data and the use of analysis and processing tools, the result of the increasingly wide availability of sophisticated analytical and technological tools (including cloud computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning), represent one of the main challenges for institutions, policy-makers and scholars and forces us to rethink the boundaries that have traditionally delimited the respective areas of intervention of regulation and antitrust. The aforementioned contents will be accompanied by the analysis of the most current and relevant case studies involving the main Big Techs.

The knowledge and skills acquired will make it possible to elaborate, analyze and discuss the characteristics and dynamics of the digital economy and the role played in it by big data, platforms and regulatory authorities.

Prerequisites: Economia Politica.