The Economic Costs of Regulation of Online Platforms and Marketplaces

Online platforms and marketplaces are services that bring consumers and producers together via the internet by providing consumers direct and instantaneous access to an extensive array of global goods and services and by enabling producers to reach consumers largely untethered by size and geographic reach. The popularity of online platforms and marketplaces attests to the societal benefits these services offer to consumers and producers alike. However, some US lawmakers and competition authorities believe that the growth of these platforms is a threat to competition.