When Sharing Platforms Fix Sellers' Prices

Abstract

While price-fixing on platforms can attract severe enforcement action, as shown by the Amazon poster case, a more nuanced picture emerges regarding the fixing of prices for sellers by sharing economy platforms. This paper explores possible antitrust responses to such centralised platform-driven price-fixing. The paper, first, provides an introduction to the sharing economy and pricing models on such platforms. Then, it investigates the extent to which established case law and frameworks applied in competition law fit with the incentive structure and the operation of such platforms. In the final section, the paper highlights key questions from a competition law and from a policy perspective. It highlights how such practices defy traditional antitrust thinking and give rise to new policy and legal challenges.

Keywords: platforms, sharing economy, price-fixing, labour, employee, agency, hub-and- spoke, enforcement

JEL Classification: K00, K20, K21, K31, K42, L11, L14, L22, L23, L24, L41, L42