Data, Competition, and Consumer Privacy in Digital Markets

In digital markets personal information is pervasively collected by firms. In the first chapter I study data ownership and product customization when there is exclusive access to non rival but excludable data about consumer preferences. I show that an incumbent firm does not have an incentive to sell an exclusively held dataset with a rival firm, but instead it has an incentive to trade a customizing technology with the other firm. In the second chapter I investigate the effects of consumer information on the intensity of competition. In a two dimensional model of product differentiation, firms use information on preferences to practice price discrimination. I contrast a full privacy and a no privacy benchmark with a regime in which firms are able to target consumers only partially. When data is partially informative, firms are always better-off with price discrimination and an exclusive access to user data is not necessarily a competition policy concern. From a consumer protection perspective, the policy recommendation is that the regulator should promote either no privacy or full privacy. In the third chapter I introduce a data broker that observes either only one or both dimensions of consumer information and sells this data to competing firms for price discrimination purposes. When the seller exogenously holds a partially informative dataset, an exclusive allocation arises. Instead, when the dataset held is fully informative, the data broker trades information non exclusively but each competitor acquires consumer data on a different dimension. When data collection is made endogenous, non exclusivity is robust if collection costs are not too high. The competition policy suggestion is that exclusivity should not be banned per se, but it is data differentiation in equilibrium that rises market power in competitive markets. Upstream competition is sufficient to ensure that both firms get access to consumer information.

Advanced cell culture platforms: methods for drug testing with microfluidics and microstructured devices

Advanced cell cultures are developing rapidly in biomedical research. Nowadays, various approaches and technologies are being used, however, these culturing systems present limitations from increasing complexity, requiring high costs, and not easily customization. We present two versatile and cost-effective methods for developing culturing systems that integrate 3D cell culture and microfluidic platforms. Firstly, for drug screening applications, many high-quality cell spheres of homogeneous size and shape are required. Conventional approaches usually have a dearth of control over the size and geometry of cell spheres and require sample collection and manipulation. To overcome this difficulty, in this study, hundreds of spheroids of several cell lines were generated using multi-well plates that housed our microdevices. Tumor spheroids grow at a uniform rate (in scaffolded or scaffold-free environments) and can be harvested at will. Microscopy imaging are done in real time during or after the culture. After in situ immunostaining, fluorescence imaging can be conducted while keeping the spatial distribution of spheroids in the microwells. Drug effects were successfully observed through viability, growth, and morphologic investigations. Also, we fabricated a microfluidic device suitable for directed and selective cell culture treatments. The microfluidic device was used to reproduce and confirm in vitro investigations carried out using normal culture methods, using a microglia cell line. The device layout and the syringe pump system, entirely designed in our lab, successfully allowed culture growth and medium flow regulation. Solution flows can be finely controlled, allowing treatments and immunofluorescence in one single chamber selectively. To conclude, we propose the development of two culturing platforms (microstructured well devices and in-flow microfluidic chip), which are the result of separate scientific investigations but have the primary goal of performing treatments in a reproducible manner. Our devices shall improve future studies on drug exposure testing, representing adjustable and versatile cell culture systems.

Analysis and improvements of an existing industrial hot stamping machine

The importance of product presentation in the marketing industry is well known. Labels are crucial for providing information to the buyer, but at a modest additional expense, a beautiful label with exquisite embellishments may also give the goods a sensation of high quality and elegance. Enhancing the capabilities of stamping machines is required to keep up with the increasing velocity of the production lines in the modern manufacturing industry and to offer new opportunities for customization. It’s in this context of improvements and refinements that this work takes place. The thesis was developed during an internship at Studio D, the firm that designs the mechanics of the machines produced by Cartes. The The aim of this work is to study possible upgrades for the existing hot stamping machines. The main focus of this work is centred on two objectives: first, evaluating the pressing forces generated by this machine and characterising how the mat used in the stamping process reacts to such forces. Second, propose a new conformation for the press mechanism in order to improve the rigidity and performance of the machines. The first objective is reached through a combined approach: the mat is crudely characterized with experimental data, while the frame of the machine is studied through FEM analysis. The results obtained are combined and used to upgrade a worksheet that allows to estimate the forces exerted by the machines. The second objective is reached with the proposal of new, improved designs for the main components of the machines.