AI-enabled price discrimination: a competition law and economics perspective

• Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies
• CMPF: Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom Programme
• CDS: The Centre for a Digital Society

Schuman Visiting Researcher Qian Li will present her PhD project on the economic rationale and technical mechanism of AI-enabled price discrimination in digital markets, with a focus on the legal consequences of AI-enabled price discrimination under both EU and Chinese competition law.

The rise of business models based on the collection and processing of Big Data allows undertakings to offer customers different prices for the same goods at precisely the same time.

This technique is called AI-enabled price discrimination . This research delves into the economic rationale and technical mechanism of AI-enabled price discrimination in digital markets and compares the legal consequences of (AI-enabled) price discrimination under EU and Chinese competition law (and beyond).

This research also evaluates whether current legal regimes can effectively tackle concerns caused by anticompetitive and welfare-reducing AI-enabled price discrimination, and provides policy suggestions to the two jurisdictions for considering (AI-enabled) price discrimination as an infringement of competition law (and beyond).

The Malafrasca Digital Talks are a series of lunchtime presentations organised by the Centre for a Digital Society and The Centre for media Pluralism and Media freedom. In these sessions, renowned experts share their knowledge on core issues related to the centre's main research areas, fostering dynamic discussions that encourage questions, debate, and knowledge sharing.