Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth Third Annual Conference on Internet Search and Innovation

Thursday, June 21, 2012 - Friday, June 22, 2012

Northwestern University School of Law
Rubloff Building Room #175
375 E. Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL

The Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth presents the Third Annual Conference on Internet Search and Innovation to be held at Northwestern University School of Law, Thursday, June 21, 2012 - Friday, June 22, 2012. The conference will run from 12:00 P.M. on Thursday, June 21 to 2:40 P.M. on Friday, June 22. On Thursday evening, there will be a cocktail reception, dinner, and keynote address by Joel Mambretti, Director of the International Center for Advanced Internet Research at Northwestern University.

This conference is organized by Professor Daniel F. Spulber, Research Director of the Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth and Elinor Hobbs Distinguished Professor of International Business, Professor of Management Strategy, Kellogg School of Management, Professor of Law, Northwestern University School of Law (Courtesy).

OVERVIEW: The goal of this conference is to provide a forum where economists and legal scholars can gather together with Northwestern's own distinguished faculty to present and discuss high-quality research relevant to Internet search and innovation. The conference will cover academic work on Internet search and innovation, and the discussion will examine related public policy issues in antitrust, regulation, and intellectual property.

The conference organizers gratefully acknowledge the support of Microsoft, Google, and the Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth.

REGISTRATION: Attendance for this conference is by invitation only. To receive an invitation, please send a message with your name, affiliation, and full contact information to Derek Gundersen at: d-gundersen@law.northwestern.edu. Please indicate if you wish to be considered as a discussant. There are a few spots available, and we can offer a modest honorarium.

AGENDA:

Thursday, June 21

12:00-1:00: Registration and Lunch (Atrium)

1:00-1:10; Welcome (RB 175)
Introduction to the Conference
Max Schanzenbach, Director, Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth, and Professor of Law, Northwestern University School of Law
Daniel F. Spulber, Research Director, Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth, and Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

1:10-2:50: Session One - Platform Competition and Internet Search (RB 175)
Session Chair: Catherine Tucker, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Investment Incentives in Two-Sided Platforms
Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Harvard University
Gaston Llanes*, Catholic University of Chile
Discussant: Jay Pil Choi, Michigan State University

Platform Competition under Partial Belief Advantage
Hanna Halaburda*, Harvard University
Yaron Yehezkel, Tel Aviv University
Discussant: Jay Pil Choi, Michigan State University

Strategic Search Diversion and Intermediary Competition
Andrei Hagiu*, Harvard University
Bruno Jullien, Toulouse School of Economics
Discussant: David Henriques, New York University

Platform Competition and Access Regulation on the Internet
Sue Mialon*, Emory University
Samiran Banerjee, Emory University
Discussant: David Henriques, New York University

2:50-3:20: Break

3:20-5:00: Session Two - How Internet Search Affects Product Markets (RB 175)
Session Chair: TBA

To Buy or Not to Buy? A Two Stage Model of within Site Search
Ammara Mahmood*, University of Oxford
Catarina Sismeiro, Imperial College
Discussant: Sagit Bar-Gill, Tel Aviv University

Targeted Search and the Long Tail Effect
Huanxing Yang, The Ohio State University
Discussant: Sagit Bar-Gill, Tel Aviv University

"A" Business by Any Other Name: Firm Name Choice as a Signal of Firm Quality
Ryan C. McDevitt, University of Rochester
Discussant: Chris Forman, Georgia Institute of Technology

Bricks, Clicks, Blockbusters, and Long Tails: How Video Rental Patterns Change as Consumers Move Online?
Alejandro Zentner*, University of Texas at Dallas and Carnegie Mellon University
Michael D. Smith, Carnegie Mellon University
Cuneyd Kaya, University of Texas at Dallas
Discussant: Chris Forman, Georgia Institute of Technology

5:00-6:00: Cocktail Reception (Atrium)

6:00: Dinner (Atrium)

6:45; Keynote Address: "Creating Innovative 21st Century Communications Services and Technology: Advanced Applications, Technology, and Global Facilities"
Joel Mambretti, Director of the International Center for Advanced Internet Research at Northwestern University

Friday, June 22

8:00-8:30: Breakfast (Atrium)

8:30-10:10: Session Three - Online Advertising and Internet Search (RB 175)
Session Chair: Andrei Hagiu, Harvard University

Social Advertising
Catherine Tucker, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Discussant: Joseph Uri Podwol, U.S. Department of Justice

Online Advertising and Privacy
Alexandre de Corniere*, Paris School of Economics
Romain de Nijs, Paris School of Economics
Discussant: Joseph Uri Podwol, U.S. Department of Justice

To Sponsor or Not to Sponsor: Sponsored Search Auctions with Organic Links
Michael Arnold*, University of Delaware
Eric Darmon, University of Rennes 1
Thierry Penard, University of Rennes 1
Discussant: Alexei Alexandrov, U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Sponsored Search: Search Characteristics, Advertiser Quality & Click Performance
Ashish Agarwal*, University of Texas at Austin
Tridas Mukhopadhyay, Carnegie Mellon University
Discussant: Alexei Alexandrov, U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

10:10-10:30: Break

10:30-12:10: Session Four - How to Improve Internet Search (RB 175)
Session Chair: Paul Liu, Google Inc.

The Quest for Content: How User-Generated Links Can Facilitate Online Exploration
Jacob Goldenberg, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Gal Oestreicher-Singer, Tel Aviv University
Shachar Reichman*, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Discussant: TBA

Explaining Price Dispersion in Online Auctions with Simple Search Frictions
Joseph Uri Podwol, U.S. Department of Justice
Henry S. Schneider*, Cornell University
Discussant: TBA

Search with Refinement
Yuxin Chen, Northwestern University
Song Yao*, Northwestern University
Discussant: TBA

Search, Word of Mouth, and Sales Concentration
Andres Hervas-Drane, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Discussant: TBA

12:10-1:00: Lunch (Atrium)

1:00-2:40: Session Five - How Does Internet Search Affect Content? (RB 175)
Session Chair: TBA

The Impact of News Aggregators on Internet News Consumption: The Case of Localization
Susan Athey*, Harvard University
Markus Mobius, Harvard University
Discussant: TBA

Media, Aggregators and the Link Economy: Strategic Hyperlink Formation in Content Networks
Zsolt Katona*, University of California at Berkeley
Chris Dellarocas, Boston University
William Rand, University of Maryland
Discussant: TBA

News Aggregators and Competition Among Newspapers in the Internet
Doh-Shin Jeon, Toulouse School of Economics
Nikrooz Nasr Esfahani, Toulouse School of Economics
Discussant: Jeffrey Prince, Indiana University

Technology Shocks in Multi-Sided Markets: The Impact of Craigslist on Local Newspapers
Robert Seamans, New York University
Feng Zhu*, University of Southern California
Discussant: Jeffrey Prince, Indiana University

2:40: Adjourn

Presenters are indicated with an *

FURTHER INFORMATION: For more information regarding this conference or other initiatives of the Searle Center, please visit http://www.law.northwestern.edu/searlecenter, call (312) 503-1811, or send an email to searlecenter@law.northwestern.edu

The Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth at Northwestern University School of Law was established in 2006 to research how government regulation and interpretation of laws and regulations by the courts affect business and economic growth. Information on the Searle Center's activities may be found at: http://www.law.northwestern.edu/searlecenter