Manipulating Interface Standards as an Anti-Competitive Strategy
(Download full paper)Filed under research category: Antitrust, industrial organization, and telecom policy
Tagged as: antitrust standards competitive_strategy policy
Authors
Jeffrey K. MacKie-Mason and Janet S. Netz
Publication date
January, 2006
Abstract
The creation of interface standards enables competition at the level of components, rather than competition in complete systems. Consumers often benefit from component competition. However, the standard-setting process might be manipulated to achieve anticompetitive ends. We consider the conditions under which a standards consortium could impose anticompetitive burdens on the market, and several strategies such a consortium might employ to achieve anti-competitive objectives. We present a new strategy -- one-way standards -- and discuss the conditions under which it can be anticompetitive.
Citation
in S. Greenstein and V. Stango, Standards and Public Policy