Algorithmic Collusion & Its Implications for Competition Law and Policy

Posted by Social Science Research Network

Algorithmic Collusion & Its Implications for Competition Law and Policy

By Kenji Lee

Algorithms are increasingly employed by businesses as an integral part of their business models given the availability of big data and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence technology and application. While the competition landscape has shifted to a digital environment, questions have been raised as to whether the existing competition law rules, formulated in the analogue era, may nevertheless remain relevant in addressing algorithmic anti-competitive practices. In particular, the unilateral use of algorithms and algorithmic tacit collusion raises enforcement challenges for the competition authorities because of the inability of existing ex-post measures to effectively address these algorithmic anti-competitive conducts. While there has been much debate internationally in this area, there has been a dearth of discussion in Singapore despite the fact that Singapore is set to be at the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This paper therefore seeks to provide a Singapore perspective to this problem by highlighting the gap in the Singapore’s competition enforcement tools and ultimately proposing a legislative solution in line with Singapore’s competition law and policy.

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