Defining 'Big Data' in Antitrust

Xavier Boutin, Compass Lexecon Brussels; Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) - European Center for Advanced Research in Economics and Statistics (ECARES) and Georg Clemens, Compass Lexecon are Defining 'Big Data' in Antitrust.

ABSTRACT: This paper provides a definition of “big data” in antitrust. While big data has become an important topic in the antitrust literature and in competition policy practice, no clear-cut definition of big data has been provided yet. This contribution fills a gap clarifying, that a big data definition should not be volume centred but instead include aspects of data analysis and the variety of data. The definition provided in this paper can resolve uncertainties that prevail in the big data antitrust debate and contribute to assess market entry and competitive pressure in data related markets for future antitrust analysis.