Professor Hildebrand supervises PhD thesis on digital platforms and competition

On 14 December 2023, Sung Yoon Yang successfully defended her PhD thesis titled ‘A Comparative Study of Legal Developments concerning Platforms in the EU, US, and Korea Focused on abuse of dominant position and creating a level playing field’ at Maastricht University’s Faculty of Law. Professor Hildebrand was one of Sung Yoon’s/Ms Yang’s three supervisors, supporting her with the dissertation.

Sung Yoon Yang
Sung Yoon Yang with co-supervisors Hildegard Schneider, Michael Faure and Doris Hildebrand

Sung Yoon Yang with co-supervisors Hildegard Schneider, Michael Faure and Doris Hildebrand

The thesis addresses regulation of abuse of a dominant position by multi-sided platforms and legislative efforts to prevent or restore the unfair competitive environment caused by gatekeeper platforms in the EU, the US, and Korea.

The study was written based on a ‘comparing’ methodology, using case analysis research methods, interviews and surveys, as well as a review of publicly available resources.

The thesis suggests a new three-phase model competition authorities can apply in regulating multi-sided platforms. For gatekeeper platforms, the thesis suggests pre-regulatory legislative measures and dominance abuse enforcement. For non-gatekeeper platforms in a dominant position, the thesis suggests dominance abuse enforcement. For non-dominant platforms, unfair trade practices enforcement might be applied.

Professor Hildebrand advised Sung Yoon/Ms Yang based on her own expertise as an academic at Paris Sorbonne University and as economic expert at EE&MC.

To learn more about the dissertation, please click here.

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