Antitrust in two-sided markets: Is competition always desirable?

Posted by D. Daniel Sokol

Ingo Fielder (University of Hamburg - Law) asks Antitrust in two-sided markets: Is competition always desirable?

ABSTRACT: The main objective of antitrust interventions is to assure competition in markets to benefit consumers. This paper challenges this common approach by examining the case of a satellite broadcasting network with monopoly power. First, satellite TV is identified as a two-sided market. It is then analyzed in the framework of the canonical model for two-sided markets developed by Rochet & Tirole (2004). The main finding is that the satellite network maximizes his profits by choosing a price formation which maximizes the overall welfare of all market participants. Even if the satellite network uses his monopoly power to introduce a fee to receive satellite TV, it would do so only until the semi-elasticity of the amount of consumers in regard to the per-interaction-price equals the one of the TV stations – exactly the point where welfare is maximized. It is therefore concluded that antitrust cases have to take a more! in-depth look at two-sided markets before deciding that competition is best for consumers.