Mara Mattes
I am a researcher and PhD candidate in Data Science and Economics at the Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf. My current research focuses on the application of machine learning and deep learning methods to economic problems.
Session
Collusion is a complex phenomenon in which companies secretly collaborate to engage in fraudulent practices. This talk presents an innovative methodology for detecting and predicting collusion patterns in different national markets using neural networks (NNs) and graph neural networks (GNNs). GNNs are particularly well suited to this task because they can exploit the inherent network structures present in collusion and many other economic problems. In Python, we use PyTorch and the Deep Graph Library (DGL) to develop and train models on individual market datasets from Japan, the United States, two regions in Switzerland, Italy, and Brazil, focusing on predicting collusion in single markets. In our empirical study, we show that GNNs outperform NNs in detecting complex collusive patterns. This research contributes to the ongoing discourse on preventing collusion and optimizing detection methodologies, providing valuable guidance on the use of NNs and GNNs in economic applications to enhance market fairness and economic welfare.