The Impact of SuperStar Firms on Competition & Competitiveness in the UK & Europe

历史上有过许多时期，公司对个人拥有巨大的权力，但可以说，从来没有一个时期像今天的一些所谓的超级明星公司(SSF)拥有如此大的影响力。最近技术的发展，包括自动化、机器学习和算法数据处理，以及机器人技术更高的精确度和可扩展性，再加上日益全球化和经济体之间的普遍相互依赖，创造了一个市场上最好的公司可以完全主导全球产品或服务供应的世界。这种主导地位的两个最明显的例子是优步和谷歌。我的论文将在Autor等人的工作基础上展开，并分三大部分研究超级明星公司模型。第一个将是对Autor等人的方法进行重新评估，使用更细分的、因此可以说更准确的进口商集中/竞争衡量标准。第二部分将涵盖多个竞争事务主管当局的个案研究，以了解社会保障机构如何被指滥用职权，其他机构可能会这样做，以及竞争事务主管当局对竞争主管当局的惩罚是否有效。第三部分将根据SSFS调查市场内的生产率。这将包括社保基金如何以不同的方式使用劳动力，以及随着社保基金获得更多的市场份额，市场中资本与劳动力投入的整体比率将如何变化。如果我们继续在自动化和人工智能领域取得进展，这些超级明星公司将受益最大，代价是劳动力。这第三部分可能会让我们深入了解这些发展对世界各地工人的潜在危害。社保基金模式在2017年才提出，因此这是一个相对较新的领域，但它已经引起了人们的极大兴趣。在许多人质疑全球化和技术进步的好处之际，我们调查那些受益最大的人是很重要的。我的研究将揭示资源再分配的变化，并像Autor等人的研究一样，可以解释许多发达国家劳动力占GDP的比例下降的原因。

There have been a number of periods in history in which firms have held tremendous power over individuals, but an argument could be made that none have ever had as much influence as some so called 'superstar firms' (SSFs) have today. Recent developments in technology, including automation, machine learning and algorithmic data processing as well as greater precision and scalability in robotics, combined with increasing globalisation and general interdependence between economies, have created a world in which the best firm in a market can completely dominate the entire world's supply of a product or service. Two of the clearest examples of this kind of dominance are Uber and Google. My thesis will expand upon the work of Autor et al and examine the Superstar firm model across three broad sections. The first will be a re-estimation of Autor et al's methodology using a more disaggregated, and therefore arguably more accurate, measure of importer concentration/competition. The second will cover a number of competition authority (CA) case studies to see how SSFs have already been accused of abusing their position, where others might be doing the same, and the effectiveness of punishments by CAs against SSFs. The third section will investigate productivity within markets in light of SSFs. This will cover how labour is used differently within SSFs and how, as more market share is gained by an SSF, the overall ratio of capital to labour input within a market changes. If we continue to make progress in the fields of automation and artificial intelligence, it will benefit these Superstar firms the most, at the expense of labour. This third section may provide an insight into the potential harms of these developments to workers across the world. The SSF model was only put forward in 2017 so this is a relatively new field but it has already garnered great interest. In a time in which many are questioning the merits of globalisation and technological progress it is important we investigate those who have benefited the most. My research will shed light on what has happened to the re-distribution of resources and, as in Autor et a, could explain the fall in labour's share of GDP seen in many developed countries.