Table 2 Open in new tab Summary of...

Power type

Conception

Notes

P_Economic

The P_Economic of a business is the business’s capacity to affect the will or action of others to give out more or gain less economic interest
Competition law raises concern when there is an unacceptable significant imbalance in P_Economic, compared with what would exist in a competitive market, such as in cases of dominance/monopoly

P_Economic covers and extends beyond conventional market power conception. It offers greater flexibility and perspectives for observing, understanding, and evaluating competitive issues, particularly in response to emerging business models
Product fabrication and product distribution are two important aspects related to P_Economic
Evidence from the digital realm indicates that for product fabrication, the capacity to personalize products massively and precisely has become an important dimension of better product quality
In product distribution, the services with information distribution functions may significantly influence whether and how other services are distributed through them

P_Political

P_Political of a business is the business’s capacity to affect the will or action of others in a way that can better achieve its political will

The P_Political in the digital era is characterized by the emergence of new players, new roles, and new influence. It differs from the traditional pathway of indirect conversion from P_Economic to P_Political through activities like partisan participation or influencing political position appointments. Furthermore, it diverges from the P_Political dynamics observed in the traditional media sector
The P_Political of businesses in the digital realm can depend on the P_Economic of their services, especially the online information provision services
Online information platforms serve multiple functions, acting as conduits for traditional media, facilitating targeted political information dissemination (such as political campaigns), and directly propagating political viewpoints (such as Trump’s use of Twitter)
The online information platforms may wield significant P_Political, even capable of influencing legislative decisions. This fact means it is not appropriate to just ignore political influence when making a competition law decision, as other regulatory frameworks may not effectively constrain the business power that competition law permits to create

P_{Informational}

The P_{Informational} of a business is the business’s capacity to affect the will or action of others concerning information in a way that is in line with its informational will

P_{Informational} has two prominent aspects, information acquisition and information dissemination
Regarding information acquisition, based on P_{Technological}, businesses in the digital sector can obtain information in a greater amount, in a wider scope, in more detail, and at a higher speed

When a business controls access between other businesses and consumers, it holds asuperior informational position. This can increase the power imbalance between thebusiness and its competitors/customers

Concerning information dissemination, the services with information dissemination function can have a significant influence on its users’ decisions, influencing not only economic decisions but also noneconomic decisions

P_{Technological}

The P_{Technological} of a business is the business’s capacity to affect its product(s) in a way that can better achieve its technological will

P_{Technological} underpins the aforementioned power types and holds critical significance to the business sectors with high demands for technologies and innovation, including the digital realm
Although there is a close relationship between the P_{Technological} and P_Economic of a business, they differ in nature
Regarding P_{Technological} as an independent power type can help to better observe how technological power exists or is exercised in new ways. It also helps to show how P_{Technological} may interplay with other power types in novel ways