The Economics of Digital Services (EODS) is an initiative of the Center of Technology, Innovation & Competition (CTIC) and Penn’s Warren Center for Network & Data Sciences that promotes research on digital platforms with a focus on empirical studies. The initiative is possible through a major grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as part of its $50 million initiative to support scholarly inquiry and novel approaches that will strengthen our democracy as the digital age progresses.
The initiative supports new research on the impact of data, algorithms, and the economics of digital platforms to increase the understanding of market dynamics for online services and the business strategies that digital platforms are pursuing. The resulting research will contribute to deepening the foundation for the proper scope of antitrust enforcement and regulatory intervention.
In the inaugural phase, EODS funded nine research proposals. Authors presented their findings at the Inaugural Economics of Digital Services Research Symposium on September 10-11, 2021. In the second phase, EODS awarded five grants; findings were presented at the Second Economics of Digital Services Research Symposium on September 9-10, 2022. In the third phase, grantees presented their findings at the Third Economics of Digital Services Research Symposium on September 8, 2023.