Market dominance - encompassing single firm dominance, overt and tacit collusion, mergers and vertical restraints - raises many complex analytical and policy issues, all of which continue to be the subject of theoretical research and policy reform. This second edition of a popular and comprehensive text extends the arguments and combines an analysis of the issues with a discussion of actual policy and case studies. This new edition addresses the recent fundamental changes in antitrust law, especially in the UK and the EU, and reviews some high profile and controversial cases such as the Boeing-McDonnell Douglas merger and the Microsoft monopoly. The author moves on to deal with several unresolved questions including the conflicts between trade and antitrust policy, the foreign take-over of domestic assets and extra-territorial claims made by certain countries.
If we can speak of the European Community's 'economic constitution', we can assert that competition rules, together with free movement rules, form its core. Notably, implementation of the competition rules enshrined in Articles 81 and 82 EC changed radically with the enactment of Regulation 1/2003, which in effect dispensed with mandatory prior notifications and allowed national authorities to apply Article 101(3) TFEU directly. Given that national legislations perceive certain types of unilateral conduct, even if adopted by a non-dominant undertaking, as a potential source of anticompetitive effects, an important question concerns the leeway enjoyed by national authorities under the exception to the convergence rule in Article 3(2) of Regulation 1/2003, and the consequent effect on both legal practice and policy issues. In this lucidly argued book, focusing on national competition provisions in Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom that deal with such conduct, the author provides a detailed examination of how such considerations as the following are affected by Regulation 1/2003: - prohibition of abuse of economic dependence or superior bargaining power; - the particular susceptibility of long-term contracts; - prohibition of resale at a loss or below cost; - prohibition of boycott, unlawful pressures, threats, and other coercive tactics adopted by undertakings; and - the role of unfair competition law. The analysis follows a functional method of comparative legal analysis, reviewing the most relevant norms in the selected jurisdictions, particularly in what concerns their goals and function in the context of their respective legal systems. Special attention is paid to two specific sectors – the motor-vehicle and the retailing industries – which have most often triggered relevant legislation and case law in the jurisdictions covered. Legal scholarship in the field is also drawn upon. In its clarification of the meaning of Regulation 1/2003, this book allows practitioners to fully grasp its scope. The author's thorough, masterful analysis of the statutory framework of Article 3 of the regulation also reveals the variety of reasons why different Member States have different competition policies on the scope of the exception to the rule of convergence, and in this way provides lawyers, policymakers, and academics with welcome insights on how major EU jurisdictions apply European competition law.
Competition Policy An Empirical and Economic Approach Emmanuel Combe It is a truism of competition that, paradoxically, those who were responsible for yesterday’s innovations and productivity become obstacles to future growth. This is why competition law has been assigned such an important role in modern countries—to detect and sanction anticompetitive practices that prevent the entry of new, efficient competitors. This utterly original book, which thoroughly explains competition policy using economic analyses of European and U.S. antitrust cases, illuminates the complex but crucial back-and-forth between economic theory and competition law practice. Covering the full range of competition policy, from antitrust (cartels, abuse of dominant position) to merger control, the book not only offers a general view of competition policy in Europe and the United States but also clearly explains the economic underpinnings that guide it, thus illustrating how principles are applied in practice. Issues and topics include the following: economic approach of antitrust sanctions; role of criminal sanctions and private actions; factors favoring cartel formation and stability; role of leniency policies; vertical restraints in the age of e-commerce; economic assessment of R&D and licensing agreements; detecting and sanctioning predatory pricing; exploitative and exclusionary abuses; and impact of a horizontal, vertical and conglomerate mergers on competition. All the major fields of competition policy are clearly explained, with many illustrative examples from case law. There is also a chapter presenting an overview of competition policies around the world, as well as the legal and institutional framework within which they operate. At a time of increasing public concern regarding high industrial concentration, especially in the digital sector, the question of regulating competition is returning to the forefront. Given that the concepts and tools of economic analysis are widely used by competition authorities, this book gives lawyers a clear understanding of the objectives and instruments of competition policy. It will thus enable corporate counsel, academics, and policymakers to apply or formulate competition law with increased precision in their day-to-day work.
This work offers a critical evaluation of the Chicago approach to antitrust. The authors discuss the economic foundations of competition policy and the different ways in which both American and European competition law does - or does not - take account of economic insights.
Adam Smith warned of the prevalence of corporate conspiracies more than two hundred years ago. Since then, interest in cartels has sometimes intensified (during the Great Depression, for example) and sometimes diminished, but the need for control has always remained on the antitrust agenda. This well-documented book reviews the economic case against corporate collusion, as well as the arguments made for a more permissive attitude. A survey of recent empirical research reveals not only the prevalence of a wide range of international cartels but also the size of the inefficiencies and costs that they impose on customers and consumers. The antitrust reaction has therefore intensified with greatly increased fines being imposed by the US, the EU and other authorities. At the same time, they have developed sophisticated leniency polices with the aim of destabilizing the illegal conspiracies. After reviewing these measures, the author concludes with the hope that this toughened approach is not modified or reversed during periods of recession.
Have you ever wondered what a therapist really thinks? Have you ever wondered if a therapist truly cares about her patients? Have you tried to imagine the unimaginable, the loss of the person most dear to you? Is it true that `tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all? ` Love and loss are a ubiquitous part of life, bringing the greatest joys and the greatest heartaches. In one way or another all relationships end. People leave, move on, die. Loss is an ever-present part of life. In Love and Loss, Linda B. Sherby illustrates that in order to grow and thrive, we must learn to mourn, to move beyond the person we have lost while taking that person with us in our minds. Love, unlike loss, is not inevitable but, she argues, no satisfying life can be lived without deeply meaningful relationships. The focus of Love and Loss is how patients' and therapists' independent experiences of love and loss, as well as the love and loss that they experience in the treatment room, intermingle and interact. There are always two people in the consulting room, both of whom are involved in their own respective lives, as well as the mutually responsive relationship that exists between them. Love and loss in the life of one of the parties affects the other, whether that affect takes place on a conscious or unconscious level. Love and Loss is unique in two respects.The first is its focus on the analyst's current life situation and how that necessarily affects both the patient and the treatment. The second is Sherby's willingness to share the personal memoir of her own loss which she has interwoven with extensive clinical material to clearly illustrate the effect the analyst's current life circumstance has on the treatment. Writing as both a psychoanalyst and a widow, Linda B. Sherby makes it possible for the reader to gain an inside view of the emotional experience of being an analyst, making this book of interest to a wide audience. Professionals from psychoanalysts and psychotherapists and bereavement specialists through students in all the mental health fields to the public in general, will resonate and learn from this heartfelt and straightforward book.
The book deals with a difficult subject with an assured touch and will be a valuable text for postgraduate students, policy-makers and practitioners. European Intellectual Property Review This is the first ever book that addresses the important issue of the competition law, intellectual property and trade interface in a developing world context. The book s unique contribution is a set of comparative case studies on this complex interface. D. Daniel Sokol, University of Florida Levin College of Law, US The book investigates competition law and international technology transfer in the light of the TRIPS Agreement and the experience of both developed and developing countries. On that basis, it draws relevant implications for developing countries. Tu Thanh Nguyen argues that technology transfer-related competition law should be glocalized appropriately for the needs of local contexts, while intellectual property rights (IPR) are globalized. The book reveals that developing countries, according to the TRIPS Agreement, have the right to use domestic competition law to promote access to technology in order to protect national interests and consumer welfare. However, competition law is antitrust. It is neither anti-IPR nor anti-trade. The author finds that developing countries with limited competition law resources should set realistic priorities for the control of technology transfer-related anti-competitive practices. They can reasonably apply and adapt relevant regulations, decisions and judgments from developed country jurisdictions to their own circumstances. Competition Law, Technology Transfer and the TRIPs Agreement is a timely resource for postgraduate students, practitioners, and scholars in international competition law, IPR, and technology transfer. Policymakers in the field of technology transfer-related competition law/policy, especially in developing countries, will also find this book invaluable.
This book is a welcome and timely addition to the library of materials exploring the implications of the move from internationalisation of trade towards globalisation. Michael Hutchings, European Competition Law Review This book provides an excellent introduction to the difficult and important issues surrounding international trade and competition policy. Douglas A. Irwin, Dartmouth College, US The opening up of world markets, rapid growth of trade and foreign direct investment create manifold problems for competition policy. Thus, international mergers may have adverse effects on many countries, international cartels may carve up world markets and dominant firms may seek to maintain their global position by exclusionary conduct. These problems have been recognised for more than half a century and some attempts have been made internationally to address them, so far with limited success. This progressive book seeks to explore the problems and concerns that globalisation has created for competition policy. The book begins by setting out the principles of competition and trade policies, and then goes on to address the impact of market globalisation on what are usually thought of as traditional antitrust concerns. These include the analysis of the difficulties arising from collusion and other restrictive practices, government sponsored voluntary co-operation , vertical restrictions and market access, pricing strategies of dominant firms and international mergers, all illustrated with a number of prominent case studies. The author concludes with an illuminating discussion on the feasibility of international co-operation on competition policy, the faltering progress that has been made so far and the prospects for future advances. This comprehensive volume will prove to be an invaluable resource to students and scholars of law and economics. It will also find wide appeal amongst researchers, policy makers and practitioners with an interest in industrial organisation, antitrust policy and globalisation.
This work on industrial organization asks a number of questions. How far can efficiency be pursued without sacrificing equity? Will the liberalization of markets lead to greater inequality of incomes? Does the profitability of big business really reflect economies of scale?
