*Result*: Impact of the General Data Protection Regulation on the Global Mobile App Market: Digital Trade Implications of Data Protection and Privacy Regulations.
*Further Information*
*Although regional data protection and privacy regimes are often cited as major barriers to crossborder digital trade, mitigating consumer privacy concerns through regulations can potentially increase the demand for foreign digital products or services. This study delves into this by assessing the impact of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on the global mobile app market. Contrary to the belief that such regulations hinder digital trade, our data show a notable post-GDPR increase in top foreign apps in European Union countries, suggesting that the GDPR may alleviate privacy concerns and encourage the adoption of foreign digital products. This finding is crucial for policymakers dealing with data and privacy issues as it indicates the potential of these regulations to balance economic growth with privacy and security protection. The study suggests that data and privacy regulations can address data concerns without significantly harming digital trade. Additionally, it uncovers an opportunity for multinational companies. Although compliance costs are higher, clear privacy regulations could lessen consumer domestic bias, opening doors to international markets. Therefore, evaluating privacy regulations' impact on global markets means considering both their benefits for demand and their costs for suppliers. Although regional data protection and privacy regimes are often cited as major barriers to crossborder digital trade, mitigating consumer privacy concerns through regulations can potentially increase the demand for foreign digital products or services. This study presents empirical evidence on this issue by examining the impact of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on the global mobile app market. We construct a comprehensive data set of apps distributed by Apple's App Store over the 26-month period covering the enactment of the GDPR and employ econometric models to analyze the regulation's effects on app trade between country pairs. Contrary to assertions that regional data protection and privacy regulations impede digital trade and aggravate fragmentation, the empirical results demonstrate a significant increase in top-performing foreign apps compared with native ones in the European Union countries post-GDPR. We further conduct a series of analyses to explore the underlying mechanisms potentially driving these effects from both the supply and demand sides. Our findings lend support to the demand-side mechanism, whereby the GDPR helps alleviate consumer privacy concerns and provides reassurance in adopting foreign digital products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Information Systems Research (INFORMS) is the property of INFORMS: Institute for Operations Research & the Management Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)*
*Full text is not displayed to guests* *Login for full access*