Abstract This paper investigates how the advent of artificial intelligence is likely to change competition policy. As economists we tend to view artificial intelligence as a technology that lowers the costs of prediction. In general, we know that lowering costs can affect market structure, though typically in the direction of facilitating competition. In general, the article argues that the traditional tools and frameworks we use in competition policy are robust to the advent of artificial intelligence as a technology that might need competition authority intervention. However, there are serious questions about how easy it will be for competition policy-makers to use their traditional tools to identify bad intent by firms in a world where business decision-making is driven by algorithm.
Mass digital surveillance differs from older, analog, and more overt forms of physical surveillance. Nonetheless, empirical research after the Snowden revelations shows that it still has a meaningful chilling effect on online behavior, including Google searches, use of Wikipedia, and expression of controversial opinions. In the courts, these studies may help plaintiffs challenging mass surveillance programs in both the United States and the European Union to demonstrate standing. In the executive and legislative branches, the studies enable the discussion to move on from the question of whether a chilling effect exists from surveillance, to the question of what, if anything, to do about it. How Online Surveillance May Affect Behavior Differently from Offline Surveillance A common trope in surveillance debates claims that subjects of digital surveillance are less affected than subjects of more traditional direct surveillance. A driver might panic and hit the gas at the sight of a police cruiser parked along the side of the road, but the same driver might not much care about or respond to the kinds of mass surveillance programs revealed by the Snowden documents. This skepticism stems mainly from an accurate perception that overt, individualized analog surveillance conveys a stronger signal of interest by the government in a particular citizen's activities than does mass digital surveillance, which by definition is general rather than particular. Conventional surveillance prior to the broad adoption of the Internet tended to involve intense physical surveillance of individuals by other individuals. This is costly and labor-intensive; even states such as the former East Germany, which employed both overt and covert physical surveillance on a grand scale, were only able to keep dossiers on a little more than one-third of their people. Physical surveillance, the cultivation of informants, and infiltration of dissident groups by undercover police officers continue, have in some respects expanded, and are still highly controversial. But the digital superstructure of surveillance has become, since the advent of the Internet, both much more pervasive than offline surveillance and much more understandable using empirical methods than it was before.
Research on forest governance has intensified in recent decades with evidence that efforts to mitigate deforestation and encourage sustainable management have had mixed results. This article considers the progress that has been made in understanding the range of variation in forest governance and management experiences. It synthesizes findings of recent interdisciplinary research efforts, which indicate that sustainable management of forest resources is associated with secure rights, institutions that fit the local context, and monitoring and enforcement. At the same time, the variability in local contexts and interactions of social, political, economic and ecological processes across levels and scales of analysis create uncertainties for the design and maintenance of sustainable forest governance. By identifying areas of progress, lessons learned, and gaps in knowledge, the discussion suggests priorities for further research.
Research on forest governance has intensified in recent decades with evidence that efforts to mitigate deforestation and encourage sustainable management have had mixed results. This article considers the progress that has been made in understanding the range of variation in forest governance and management experiences. It synthesizes findings of recent interdisciplinary research efforts, which indicate that sustainable management of forest resources is associated with secure rights, institutions that fit the local context, and monitoring and enforcement. At the same time, the variability in local contexts and interactions of social, political, economic and ecological processes across levels and scales of analysis create uncertainties for the design and maintenance of sustainable forest governance. By identifying areas of progress, lessons learned, and gaps in knowledge, the discussion suggests priorities for further research.
Abstract Some algorithms may have similar discriminatory tendencies to humans. The presented study investigates gender bias in social media advertising in the context of STEM careers. Results suggest that advertising algorithms are not gender-biased as such, but that economic forces in the background might lead to unintended, uneven outcomes. Spillover effects across industries make reaching some consumer segments more likely than others. A gender-neutral strategy is less likely to reach women because women are more likely to react to advertising. Therefore, targeting them is more expensive and economic forces unintentionally favor men. One potential solution could be running separate campaigns for men and women to target both demographic groups equally. However, anti-discrimination legislation in many countries does not allow companies to target employment ads to only one gender. So ironically, laws that are designed to avoid discrimination actually rule out a fairly simple way to correct the bias in online targeting on Facebook and other platforms, illustrating further need for policy guidance in this area.
