You are cordially invited to the first SAPI Colloquium of the year, hosted by the Seoul National University Artificial Intelligence Policy Initiative (SAPI).

This colloquium features Professor Alexandre de Streel from the University of Namur, who will deliver a talk on "Disruptive Innovation and Antitrust." As one of Europe's leading experts on platform regulation and antitrust law, Professor de Streel will analyze the challenges that disruptive innovation poses to traditional antitrust theories and practices. His presentation will particularly focus on "competition on the market," which transforms market structures through horizontal competition.
Below is the abstract of Professor de Streel's presentation.

This paper analyses how disruptive innovation fits within current antitrust policy and practice. It first reviews the business literature on disruptive innovation, and its origins in neo-Schumpeterian economics. Disruptive innovation occurs when the incumbent firm is displaced despite, or even because of, the choices that made that firm successful. As such, it highlights shortcomings of current antitrust theory: models of competition in or even for the market fail to account fully for dynamic effects. Disruptive innovation represents competition on the market, where the relevant market is endogenized and becomes a competitive parameter. Competition on the market is, in our view, characterized by sideways (as opposed to head-to-head) competition, where an entrant tries to gain a position of strength within a larger ecosystem, by shifting the value network or by replacing the dominant design at the expense of the incumbent. The paper analyses how competition on the market could be factored into antitrust analysis and practice on the basis of recent cases in the US and the EU. The presence of competition on the market should lead to greater caution and humility in the application of antitrust law. Nevertheless, antitrust law already has a mixture of substantive and procedural rules that can be harnessed to address concerns related to the main defensive strategies used by firms to prevent disruptive innovation taking place. In the case of monopolization provisions, addressing conduct aimed at blocking access to complementary assets is the most pressing issue. Under merger control, it is not only “killer acquisitions” that are problematic, but also acquisitions designed to deny a foothold to a potential disruptor or to copy its offerings. We explore how antitrust metrics and theories of harm could evolve in these respects, and offer some concrete proposals as regards their implementation.

SAPI is a Social Lab that conducts interdisciplinary research on socioeconomic, humanities, and legal-policy issues related to new and emerging technologies such as AI and XR. Our initiative seeks to foster collaboration and dialogue among experts from academia, industry, and the public sector, both domestically and internationally, bringing together diverse backgrounds and interests. We will continue to serve as a platform for leading research and discussions.

Sincerely,
SAPI

* This event will be held in a hybrid format, with the presentation conducted in English.
** Sandwiches and beverages will be provided to attendees who register in advance.
*** Presentation materials will be distributed to registered participants prior to the event, so please sign up in advance using the registration link in the poster below.