Research

Working Paper

Competition, Product Variety and Welfare: the Case of Commercial Aircraft Industry

Second-year Field Paper, draft available upon request

Abstract: I study how oligopolistic competition affects product variety and welfare in the global commercial aircraft market, which is characterized by duopolistic competition between Airbus and Boeing. Using a structural model with endogenous product entry, I develop a three-part decomposition framework to provide a nuanced understanding of product variety-two complementary variety measurements, two forces shaping firms’ variety decisions, and two welfare channels. The simulation results show that while monopoly scenarios increase product variety, much of it reflects strategic repositioning with limited consumer surplus. In contrast, duopoly preserves price competition and yields the highest total welfare, highlighting trade-offs between coordination and competition.

Algorithmic Personalization and Digital Addiction: A Field Experiment on Douyin (TikTok)

with Qianyun (Carole) Gao, Yu Gao, and Juanjuan Meng, draft available at SSRN:4885043

Abstract: We conducted a field experiment to investigate the impact of deactivating personalized recommendation algorithms or abstaining from Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok) on users’ screen time and well-being. We found that while both treatments reduced Douyin use during the intervention, only the deactivation of personalized recommendations induced a lasting effect post-intervention. Further analysis indicates that deactivating personalized content bolstered cognitive competence, while abstaining from Douyin led to a significant decline in subjective well-being. In alignment with an adjusted habit formation model, these results highlight the effectiveness of disabling personalized algorithms as a strategy to combat digital addiction.