About
The continued and rapid growth of E-commerce has generated questions about the consequences for society, business, and the global economy. The USC Marshall Initiative on Digital Competition, starting in January 2021, aims to discover insights on these questions through a collaboration of industry practitioners and academics from business disciplines as well as non-business disciplines (e.g. computer science, economics, law, communications); and disseminate these insights to a broad set of audiences that includes academics, business leaders, and the public.
Topics of Interest
- Analysis of innovation, disruption, and competition for online platforms and their ecosystems
- Implications of regulatory policies on digital platform competition, and value creation
- Evaluation of policy proposals by lawmakers, think tanks, as well as by industry trade groups and consumer advocates
Core Team

Anthony Dukes
Chair and Professor of Marketing, USC Marshall

Daniel Sokol
Professor of Law, USC Gould and Affiliate Professor USC Marshall

Robin Thimbriel
Administrative Coordinator Initiative on Digital Competition
(She/Her/Hers)
Research Affiliates
External Affiliates

Carmelo Cennamo
Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Copenhagen Business School
Research Focus: Platform ecosystems, Competition in digital markets, Platform competition and platform disruption, Digital transformation at market and sector level

Yuxin Chen
Dean of Business, Distinguished Global Network Professor, NYU Shanghai; Global Network Professor, NYU
Research Focus: Data-driven Marketing, Internet Marketing, Competitive Strategies, Structural Empirical Models, Bayesian Econometric Methods

Anindya Ghose
Professor of Information, Operations, and Management Sciences and Professor of Marketing, NYU's Stern School of Business
Research Focus: Social Media, Text Mining of User-Generated Content, Digital, Advertising and Marketing, Mobile Apps, Mobile Internet and, Mobile Commerce, Electronic Commerce, Crowdfunding

Anja Lambrecht
Professor of Marketing, London Business School
Research Focus: Pricing, Choice and usage under nonlinear pricing, Biases in tariff choice, Online advertising, Electronic markets

Oke Odudu
Access Officer at Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge
Research Focus: Antitrust law, Cartels, Competition law, European Union law

Wonseok Oh
K.C.B. Chair Professor of Information Systems, KAIST College of Business
Research Focus: Economics of IT and AI, Consumer Data Analytics, AI & Emerging Technologies, Digital Marketing
View Profile on Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology Website

Melissa Schilling
Herzog Family Professor of Management, NYU
Research Focus: Technological Change and Innovation, Alliances and Collaboration Strategies, Cognition, Creativity and Learning, Pharmaceutical and Biotech Innovation, Technology Standards and Modularity, Breakthrough Innovators

Michael Smith
Professor of Information Technology and Marketing, Carnegie Mellon University
Research Focus: Internet Market Efficiency, Customer Choice Behavior at Shopbots, Internet Pricing Behavior, Peer-to-Peer Network Efficiency and Design

Catherine Tucker
Sloan Distinguished Professor of Management and a Professor of Marketing, MIT Sloan
Research Focus: Management Science
View Profile on Massachusetts Institute of Technology Website

Marshall Van Alstyne
Professor of Information Systems, Questrom School of Business
Research Focus: Economics of Free Software & Platform Innovation, Network Effects & Information Product Design, Information Economics & Antispam Technologies, Information Flow & White Collar Productivity

Hema Yoganarasimhan
Professor of Marketing, University of Washington
Research Focus: Digital Marketing, Online Advertising,Two-Sided Markets, Auctions, Online Search.

Michael Zhang
Chair Professor of Decision Sciences and Managerial Economics, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Research Focus: Business Analytics, Digital Finance, Online advertising, Economics of Artificial Intelligence

Feng Zhu
Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
Research Focus: Technology and Operations Management
USC Affiliates

Mohammed Alyakoob
Assistant Professor of Data Sciences and Operation

Shanatu Dutta
Dave and Jeanne Tappan Chair in Marketing and Professor of Marketing

Erik Hovenkamp
Assistant Professor of Law

Nikhil Malik
Assistant Professor of Marketing

Dina Mayzlin
Associate Dean for the Ph.D. Program & Professor of Marketing

Alex Miller
Assistant Professor of Marketing

Milan Miric
Assistant Professor of Data Sciences and Operations

Alejandra Palacios
Senior Fellow, Sol Price; Affiliated Expert, The Brattle Group; Former Chair of COFECE (Mexico’s Antitrust Authority)

Davide Proserpio
Assistant Professor of Marketing & Kenneth King Stonier Assistant Professor of Business Administration

Rodney Ramcharan
Professor of Finance and Business Economics

Tianshu Sun
Robert R. Dockson Associate Professor in Business Administration & Associate Professor of Data Sciences and Operations

Guofu Tan
Professor of Economics

Kalinda Ukanwa
Assistant Professor of Marketing

Sha Yang
Vice Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs and Ernest Hahn Professor of Marketing
Graduate Researchers

Carter Faust
Master of Science in Applied Economics and Econometrics (MS AEE)
Electronic Commerce, Electronic Markets, Digital Finance
(She/Her/Hers)

Meng Li
Master of Science in Global Supply Chain Management
Implication of Data Policies for E-Commerce
Taxation and Online Retailing
(She/Her/Hers)

Kenneth On
Juris Doctor
Antitrust/ M&A

Aigerim Saudabayeva
Juris Doctor
Antitrust; Merger Review; Impact of Big Tech on the News Industry
(She/Her/Hers)
Events
Data and Innovation: Solutions and Business Models in the Digital Economy
Panelist: Anindya Ghose (NYU Stern) and Catherine Tucker (MIT Sloan)
Moderators: Daniel Sokol (USC) and Marcela Mattiuzzo (Coordinator of the LGPD GT of the IBRAC Digital Markets Committee)

USC Global Competition Law Thought Leadership Conference
Friday, June 3rd - Saturday, June 4th, 2022
University of Southern California, UPC
665 West Exposition Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90089
Presented by USC Marshall Initiative on Digital Competition, Center for Transnational Law and Business, and Analysis Group and Cornerstone Research

Digital Supply Chain
Panelists: Dheera Anand, Senior Manager, Business Consulting – Supply Chain & Operations, Ernst & Young LLP; Tathagata (Das) Dasgupta
Chief Data Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi; Falan Yinug, Director of Economic Strategy at Qualcomm
Thursday, April 21
Start at 9 AM PST
Virtual Event
Zoom Registration Link: https://bit.ly/3MSOqDp
Webinars
Digital Transformation in the Supply Chain
Moderator:
D. Daniel Sokol, Professor of Law, USC Gould and Affiliate Professor USC Marshall
Panelists:
Dheera Anand, Principal, Business Consulting – Supply Chain & Operations, Ernst & Young LLP
Tathagata (Das) Dasgupta, Chief Data Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi
Falan Yinug, Director of Economic Strategy at Qualcomm
Fireside Chat with Carl Shapiro on Antitrust Merger Guidelines
Speakers:
D. Daniel Sokol, Professor, Gould School of Law, Marshall School of Business, USC (Moderator)
Carl Shapiro, Distinguished Professor of the Graduate School, University of California, Berkeley
Description:
The session will explore the drafting of the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines, their use before the antitrust agencies and in court, as well as suggestions for possible reform.
What a Chief Economist Does in a Platform Company?
Speaker:
John A. List - Kenneth C. Griffin Distinguished Service Professor in Economics, University of Chicago, Current Chief Economist at Walmart, Former Chief Economist at Lyft and Uber
Description:
Economists have come to play an increasingly central role in tech companies-tackling problems such as platform design, strategy, pricing, and policy. Come learn about their role from the former chief economist of Lyft (and U Chicago Professor) John List.
Digital Transformation In the Media & Entertainment Industry
Panelists:
D. Daniel Sokol, Professor, Gould School of Law, Marshall School of Business, USC (Moderator)
Rowan Conn, CFO, Universal Brand Development
Kelly Hamilton, EVP & CIO, Sony Pictures Entertainment
John Nendick, Founder, Malaga Consulting, Advisor, Investor and Board of Directors in Media and Technology
Fintech for Inclusion
Panelists:
D. Daniel Sokol, Professor, Gould School of Law, Marshall School of Business, USC (Moderator)
Christopher Brummer, Professor of Law, Georgetown and Founder, DC Fintech Week (Moderator)
Kimberly Johnson, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Fannie Mae (Keynote)
Carmelle Cadet, Founder & CEO, EMTECH Dante Disparte, CSO & Head of Global Policy, Circle
Theodore "Teddy" Flo, CLO, Zest AI
What Does Proposed Antitrust Legislation Mean in the Courtroom?
Panelists:
D. Daniel Sokol, Professor, Gould School of Law, Marshall School of Business, USC (Moderator)
Eric Grannon, Partner, White & Case LLP
Bruce Hoffman, Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
Amanda Reeves, Partner, Latham & Watkins
Competition Issues in Supermarkets
Panelists:
D. Daniel Sokol, Professor, Gould School of Law, Marshall School of Business, USC (Moderator)
Alicia Batts, Partner, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Stephanie Greco, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Ayelet Israeli, Associate Professor, Harvard Business School
The Role of Technology Platforms in Enabling Entry of Startups
Panelists:
Daniel Sokol, Professor of Law USC Gould and Affiliate Professor USC Marshall
Shantanu Dutta, Dave and Jeanne Tapan Chair Professor in Marketing, USC Marshall
Viswanath Pingali, Associate Professor of Economics, IIM AhmedabadModerator -Nishant Chadha, Head of Research Centre for The Digital Future
How Do Business, Law, and Regulation Impact AI Engineering Researchers: Possible Collaboration and Complementarities
Panelists:
Anthony Dukes, Chair & Professor of Marketing, University of Southern California
Daniel Sokol, Professor of Law, USC Gould & Affiliate Professor USC Marshall
Dina Mayzlin, Associate Dean for the Ph.D. Program & Professor of Marketing
Mohammed Alyakoob, Assistant Professor of Data Sciences & Operation
What I Learned From My Stint In Government
Moderator:
Daniel Sokol, Professor of Law, University of Southern California
Panelists:
Leemore Dafney, Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
Guofu Tan, Professor of Economics, University of Southern California
Nancy Rose, Professor of Applied Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Future of Antitrust Enforcement in the Biden Administration
Panelists:
Jamillia P. Ferris, Partner, Antitrust and Competition, Wilson Sonsini
Margaret T. Segall, Partner, Antitrust, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
Alexander Paul Okuliar, Co-Chair, Global Antitrust Law Practice Group, Morrison & Foerster LLP
Peter Mucchetti, Partner, Antitrust and Litigation, Clifford Chance
Podcasts
The Platform Competition Podcast features the Directors Dr. Anthony Dukes and Dr. D. Daniel Sokol diving deep into conversation on insights of e-commerce and digital platforms through collaboration of industry practitioners and academics from business disciplines and beyond. This podcast is for everyone; as we celebrate the innovation, the diversity, and the voices - in America, and around the world.
Podcast 1
Michael Grenfell, Executive Director, Competition and Markets Authority (UK)
Podcast 2
Reiko Aoki, Commissioner, Japan Fair Trade Commission
Podcast 3
Matthew Boswell, Commission, Competition Bureau of Canada;
Jeanne Pratt, Senior Deputy Commissioner, Mergers and Monopolistic Practices Branch;
Anthony Durocher, Deputy Commissioner, Competition Promotion Branch