F1TG 4400 - Governing the Digital Economy

The digital economy has revolutionised communication, information consumption, and business operations, bringing enormous benefits while simultaneously raising concerns about ensuring fair, competitive markets that balance innovation with fundamental rights protection.

This course offers an in-depth exploration of the complexities involved in governing the digital economy. Through a hands-on, problem-solving approach, the course delves into fundamental concepts such as digital ecosystems, gatekeepers, network effects, economies of scale, and the implications of data-driven business models. It examines how these concepts intersect with real-world policy debates, providing a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities posed by digital markets.

Critically examining the limitations of traditional policy frameworks in addressing the rise of tech giants, the course introduces emerging regulatory frameworks, including the landmark EU Digital Markets Act. It also investigates the intricate relationship between market concentration, AI governance, and regulation of foundational models, engaging with ongoing debates surrounding the potential and barriers to competition in the AI sector.

Given the borderless nature of the digital economy, the course explores the challenges of developing effective cross-border policy frameworks. This includes addressing issues such as tax base erosion and profit shifting, and the governance of cross-border data flows.

Upon completion of this course, students will gain a profound understanding of the digital economy's complexities and be well-prepared to engage in cutting-edge policy and regulatory debates.

Learning outcomes

• Identify and discuss key concepts and structures of the digital economy, including network effects, economies of scale, data as a non-rivalrous good, gatekeepers, and digital ecosystems.
• Analyse how the features of the digital economy shape market dynamics and competition, creating new policy challenges and revealing the limitations of traditional legal and regulatory frameworks in addressing them.
• Evaluate emerging regulations in the digital economy, considering the policy and regulatory implications of technological innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI), and propose potential solutions to address the identified regulatory gaps and challenges

Professional skills

• Research and writing: develop skills to conduct thorough literature reviews, synthesize complex information, and present research findings clearly and effectively.
• Problem-solving and decision-making: develop the ability to identify and analyse complex problems in the digital economy, work as part of a team, formulate innovative solutions, and make informed decisions in the face of uncertainty.
• Public policy engagement: gain the ability to engage with cutting-edge policy debates and to make informed contributions to current discussions on the governance of the digital economy.

None

For the group activity, verbal feedback will be provided during seminars and written feedback on the policy brief will be issued within four weeks of submission.

For the individual essay, students will discuss their essay ideas and outlines with the instructor during the term, receiving verbal feedback on the structure and clarity of their arguments. After submitting the final essay, written feedback will be provided within four weeks of the deadline, addressing the essay's overall structure, clarity, argumentation, use of scholarly sources, and adherence to the proposed format and audience.

Assessment will be based on two key components:

• Group activity (60%) based on a scenario
• Individual essay (40%), due two weeks after the semester's completion, should be a concise opinion piece of approximately 1,000 words, addressing a relevant or emerging issue and grounded in at least three scholarly sources from the course's reading list.

• Attendance: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Reading and Preparation for Class: 4 hours a week / 48 hours a semester
• Research and Preparation for Group Work: 4 hours a week / 48 hours a semester
• Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 30 hours a semester