EU ANTITRUST: HOT TOPICS & NEXT STEPS

EU ANTITRUST: HOT TOPICS & NEXT STEPS 2022

Prague, Czechia

Digitalisation and firm’s own price elasticity of demand in dominant position analysis Jan Kupčík Masaryk University Faculty of Law, Commercial Law Department Veveří 70, Brno, 611 80 Czech Republic e-mail: jan.kupcik@mail.muni.cz Abstract The finding of a dominant position in the EU is still predominantly based on market shares and, consequently, on relevant market definition. It is argued that despite differing views of the legal concept, a dominant position is a function of market power in a regular economic sense. Therefore, economic theory provides more direct tools for its assessment, namely quantification of price elasticity of demand after the product in question (firm’s own or product specific price elasticity of demand). The idea is not new, but it has been rejected in the European framework mainly due to its link with an attack against the concept of market definition. It is argued that most of the arguments against it are avoided if it Is accepted that elasticity would be only used for the assessment of market power, not excluding market definition in other steps of an analysis. Impacts of digitalisation may address other arguments against a product specific price elasticity of demand. Namely, it increases the possibility of necessary data for calculations (prices and quantities) being collected and archived. Second, it diminishes the legal certainty and self-assessment functions of the approach assessing dominant position by market definition and market shares. Pre research confirms that full research would be worth trying. Product specific price elasticity of demand could serve as a valuable tool for a dominant position analysis in certain cases, including cases in digital markets. Keywords: dominant position, elasticity of demand, market power, relevant market JEL Classification: K21, K42, L12, L13, L41 1. Introduction The ongoing digitalisation is undoubtedly one of the most important factors influencing the current state of EU competition law. Competition law has always been linked to economic developments and has had to be prepared to follow the latest economic trends to ensure balanced competition even in emerging

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