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Oren Bar-Gill, Big Data, Privacy and Price Discrimination: A Behavioral Economics Perspective (Harv. L. & Pol'y Rev. Blog, Apr. 26, 2015).


Abstract: The goal of this post is to highlight one particular problem raised by the Big Data revolution – the problem of price discrimination. Price discrimination describes a situation where a seller, usually a monopolist (or, more generally, a seller with some degree of market power), charges different prices to different consumers for the very same product or service. The seller seeks to identify her customer’s willingness to pay, and then charges higher prices to those consumers who are willing to pay more.