The Program on Economics & Privacy (PEP), part of the Law & Economics Center at George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, has accepted proposals for large-scale empirical research on various facets of the economics of privacy.
To learn more details, please click below.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to the following:
- The relationship between online advertising and product market competition
- The extent to which firms compete over data practices
- The extent to which firms include information about data practices in marketing
- The relationship between product market competition and firms’ data practices
- The effect of privacy regulation on product market competition
- The value of data flows to consumers, including the value of targeting advertising
- Consumer valuation of privacy
- The relationship between online advertising and the quantity and quality of online content
- Consumer benefits and harms from biometric information
- The role of data flows in consumer financial markets
- The effect of privacy disclosures on consumer privacy choices
- The impact on consumers and competition from the use of legacy privacy statutes, such as ECPA and the VPPA, against companies that employ tracking technology, such as cookies and tracking pixels
- Incentives to adopt privacy enhancing technologies (PETs), and the impact of PETs on consumers and competition
- The impact of state privacy laws on consumers and competition
- How restrictions on data use might impact the development of generative AI
- The relationship between government access to consumer data and public safety
Funded proposals are eligible to receive up to $15,000 in financial support, which is intended to cover costs of data acquisition, research assistance, and research-related travel.
The timeline for selected research proposals is as follows:
- Fall 2024: Authors will present their initial research results to a group of scholars at Antonin Scalia Law School in early Fall, 2024.
- March 1, 2025: Research should be publicly available on SSRN and posted on the PEP website as part of the Antonin Scalia Law School Law & Economics Research Papers Series. Additionally, authors will record a brief video explaining their work, which will be posted on the PEP website.
- May 1, 2025: Authors should be seeking publication in a suitable academic journal.
The deadline to submit a proposal was January 31, 2024, and successful applicants will be notified by February 16, 2024.
PEP’s mission is to inject sound economic analysis into policy discussions surrounding privacy, data security, and other competition and consumer protection issues facing the digital economy. We pursue this mission through research, education, and hosting public policy programs that bring together academics, thought leaders, and government officials for vibrant and balanced discussions.
If you have any questions, please contact us at PEP@gmu.edu or 703.993.2566.