Call for Grant Proposals on the Economics of Digital Services

October 16, 2020 - November 16, 2020

12:00 AM - 12:00 AM

The University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Technology, Innovation and Competition and Warren Center for Network and Data Sciences will fund grants to support research on the economics of digital services.  This program is made possible by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The grant program encompasses research examining the issues raised by the economics of digital services from either an economic or legal perspective.  Proposed research may be either theoretical or empirical and can have public policy and antitrust implications.  Proposals examining the impact of digital platforms’ greater reliance on algorithms and data and the implications of vertical integration and other emerging business models employed by tech companies are particularly welcome.

Each funded proposal may receive up to $10,000 in financial support, which may be used for data acquisition, research assistants, or travel to work with coauthors.  Successful proposals will receive 1/2 of the awarded funds when the project is approved for funding by the CTIC and the remaining 1/2 of the funds upon successful completion of the project and delivery of the output of the research.  Grants cannot be used for work that is complete or nearly complete.

Grantees will be expected to attend and present their work at a conference to be held in Philadelphia in May/June 2021.  They will also be expected to produce a short blog post summarizing their work.

The deadline for proposals is October 16, 2020.  Decisions will be announced by November 16, 2020.  The expected output of funded research should be available by May 14, 2021.

Please note that the submission deadline for grant proposals has been extended to October 30, 2020.  Decisions will be announced by November 30, 2020.  The expected output of funded research should be available by May 14, 2021.

Application instructions

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