Chaos or nuance? A systematic content analysis of the use of the term “innovation” in European Commission’s merger decisions concerning digital markets

This article analyses the interplay between innovation and competition in the merger proceedings concerning digital markets. The core of our study is a systematic content analysis of 18 Commission’s decisions. On the basis of a unique dataset collecting mentions of innovation in the selected decisions, we analyse who refers to innovation, what is the role of referring to this term, what types and temporal perspectives of innovation are invoked and how they describe the role of innovation for the market players. The study shows that references to innovation play an important role in the Commission’s decisions. It also demonstrates the differing views on innovation-related issues held by the Commission, the Parties and third parties. The results highlight the necessity of the representation of various types of stakeholders and their views on the role of innovation in digital markets.