This presentation by the OECD Secretariat, was made during the discussion “Theories of Harm for Digital Mergers” held at the 140th meeting of the OECD Competition Committee on 16 June 2023. More papers and presentations on the topic can be found out at oe.cd/thdm.

1. Theories of Harm for
Digital Mergers
Competition Committee – 16 June 2023
Carolina Abate and Zoe Lyon
OECD Competition Division

2. • Digital – entities involved in the development
and deployment of digital technologies as
products and services on B-2-B and B-2-C
markets
• Focus on theories of harm:
– current practice
– proposed ‘new’ theories
– forward-looking challenges
1
Scope of Background Note

3. • Traditional theories (horizontal and
non-horizontal) widely applied
in digital mergers
• Data has been frequently considered both as an
input and for its potential to be combined
• Scope for theories to more comprehensively
capture certain digital market characteristics
2
Current practice

4. • Ecosystem effects – the potential for a merger to
impact markets beyond those the focus of the
merger and further entrench an ecosystem
• Non-price aspects of competition – particularly
the potential for privacy degradations and harms
to innovation
• Longer-run effects – the impact of a merger may
take longer to play out in digital markets
3
Proposed areas for greater focus

5. • A trade off: more novel theories of harm
= greater uncertainty
• Despite challenges, there is scope for, and utility
in, further adapting existing theories and
continuing to explore new theories
• Potentially more difficulty meeting legal tests
and a greater role for courts as final arbiters
4
Forward-looking challenges

6. THANK YOU