基于算法的消费者价格歧视的反垄断规制研究

Research on Antitrust Regulation of Consumer Price Discrimination Based on Algorithm

近年来,随着电商经济与人工智能的迅速发展,多种新兴的科技因素不断推动着电商平台的进步与发展。通过大数据、云计算等技术,电商平台经营者可以更加精确地掌握消费者的购物偏好与购买意愿,这也提高了经营者基于消费者信息精准预测其支付意愿从而进行价格歧视的可能性,由此产生的消费者权益保护、消费者个人信息的保护等方面的问题逐渐变得不可忽视。虽然基于算法使用价格歧视的手段可以提高交易的效率,甚至可以促进市场的活跃,但若行业巨头利用这种手段滥用市场支配地位,会对消费者以及其他占有市场份额较小的经营者的利益造成损害,造成市场垄断的后果。消费者价格歧视是当前电商经营者实现消费者剩余价值最大化的一个重要途径,对其进行反垄断规制是十分有必要的,但当前的规制现状并不明朗,需要反垄断执法机构从法和经济学角度入手,制定全面的规制措施。具体来说,应当从算法价格歧视的成因、规制现状和治理难点等方面分析针对算法价格歧视的具有可行性的法律规制路径。

In recent years,with the rapid development of e-commerce economy and artificial intelligence,a variety of emerging scientific and technological factors have continuously promoted the progress and development of e-commerce platforms.Through big data,cloud computing and other technologies,e-commerce platform operators can more accurately grasp consumers’shopping preferences and purchase intentions,which also improves the possibility of operators accurately predicting their willingness to pay based on consumer information and thus conducting price discrimination.The resulting problems in consumer rights protection and consumer personal information protection have gradually become non-negligible.Although on the one hand,the use of price discrimination based on algorithms can improve the efficiency of transactions and even promote market activity.However,if the giants in the industry use this means to abuse their dominant market position,it may cause damage to the interests of consumers and other operators with small market share,resulting in the consequences of market monopoly.Consumer price discrimination is an important way for e-commerce operators to maximize consumer surplus value.It is necessary to carry out anti-monopoly regulation.However,the current status of regulation is not clear,and it is necessary for anti-monopoly law enforcement agencies to formulate comprehensive regulatory measures from the perspective of law and economics.Specifically,it is necessary to analyze the feasible legal regulation path for algorithmic price discrimination from the aspects of the causes of algorithmic price discrimination and the difficulties in regulating the status quo.