消费者隐私管理与垄断平台个人化定价福利效应

Consumers Privacy Management and the Welfare of Personal Price Discrimination in Monopoly Platform

消费者隐私管理对算法个人化定价的福利效应具有重要影响。通过动态博弈模型分析表明,在消费者具有隐私管理能力且隐私管理成本适度的情况下,个人化定价会实现消费者福利和社会总福利的提高。因此,对垄断平台个人化定价不应一刀切地加以禁止,而应采用合理推定原则进行个案分析。政府需谨慎直接介入平台个人化定价,赋能消费者的隐私管理能力是最佳的反垄断政策。同时,应通过立法强化消费者隐私权保护,赋予消费者充分的知情权和自主决策权,并鼓励增强消费者隐私管理的技术开发和应用。

Consumers privacy management has an important influence on the welfare effect of algorithmic price discrimination.The analysis of dynamic game theory model shows that when consumers are enable to manage their privacy and the cost of keeping anonymous is in moderation,the personalized pricing will improve the consumer surplus and the total social welfare.Therefore,personal pricing adopt by monopoly platform should not be strictly prohibited by rule of per se,but analyzed by rule of reason.It s best antitrust policy to empower consumers to manage their privacy,not penalize the platform that employ personal price discrimination ad arbitrium.The government should strengthen the protection of consumer privacy through legislation to endue consumers with right to informed-consent and autonomous decision making,and encourage the development and application of technology to enhance consumers ability to manage their privacy.