Comparative Competition Law

Offering a concise and critical comparison of EU competition law and US antitrust law from an economic perspective, this is the ideal textbook for international and interdisciplinary courses combining law and economic approaches.

Comparative Competition Law examines the key global issues facing competition law and policy. This volume’s specially commissioned chapters by leading writers from the United States, Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia provide a synthesis of how these current issues are addressed by drawing on the approaches taken in different jurisdictions around the world. Expert contributors examine the regulation of core competitive conduct by comparing substantive law approaches in the US and the EU. The book then explores issues of enforcement – such as the regulator’s powers, whether to criminalize anti-competitive conduct, the degree to which private enforcement ought to be encouraged, and the extraterritorial scope of domestic laws. Finally, the book discusses how competition law is being implemented in a variety of countries, including Japan, China, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia. This scholarly analysis of the key substantive, procedural, and remedial challenges facing global competition law policymakers offers a comparative framework to facilitate a better understanding of relevant policies. This collection of global perspectives will be of great interest to scholars and students of competition law, microeconomics, and regulatory studies. Competition law regulators, policy makers, and law practitioners will also find this book an invaluable resource.

This book provides a comparative overview of the rules of EU, US, and Japanese law on com-petition. After an overview of their history and the underlying economic issues, it compares perspectives on cartels and other agreements restraining competition (ancillary agreements, R&D/specialization agreements, distribution agreements); single-firm conduct (abuse of dom-inant market power/monopolization); general procedural law and merger control, and state measures such as regulation and subsidies. In each case, the presentation of the legal system is supplemented by examples from the case law. With a focus on the protection of competition in digital markets, new regulatory approaches (e.g., the EU Digital Markets Act and comparable US regulatory initiatives) are evaluated and current legal developments in other jurisdictions are addressed.

The aim of this book is to explore the economic fundamentals of European competition law.

This thorough appraisal of competition law and policy from an international and comparative perspective covers the role of different international organisations active in the area, the significance of multinational enterprises and, in particular, the differences between US and EU systems. Taking examples from regions such as Africa, the Middle East and Asia, Maher M. Dabbah looks at the law and policy in developing countries and at a regional level, the internationalisation of competition law and the doctrines of extraterritoriality, bilateral cooperation and multilateral cooperation as well as the relationship between competition and trade policy. The book should prove useful to anyone who is interested in gaining an insight into the international dimension of competition law and policy. It is written in a language and style which make such a complex topic both possible to understand and enjoyable.

Although it is commonly assumed that consumers benefit from the application of competition law, this is not necessarily always the case. Economic efficiency is paramount; thus, competition law in Europe and antitrust law in the United States are designed primarily to protect business competitors (and in Europe to promote market integration), and it is only incidentally that such law may also serve to protect consumers. That is the essential starting point of this penetrating critique. The author explores the extent to which US antitrust law and EC competition law adequately safeguard consumer interests. Specifically, he shows how the two jurisdictions have gone about evaluating collusive practices, abusive conduct by dominant firms and merger activity, and how the policies thus formed have impacted upon the promotion of consumer interests. He argues that unless consumer interests are directly and specifically addressed in the assessment process, maximization of consumer welfare is not sufficiently achieved. Using rigorous analysis he develops legal arguments that can accomplish such goals as the following: replace the economic theory of ‘consumer welfare’ with a principle of consumer well-being; build consumer benefits into specific areas of competition policy; assess competition cases so that income distribution effects are more beneficial to consumers; and control mergers in such a way that efficiencies are passed directly to consumers. The author argues that, in the last analysis, the promotion of consumer well-being should be the sole or at least the primary goal of any antitrust regime. Lawyers and scholars interested in the application and development and reform of competition law and policy will welcome this book. They will find not only a fresh approach to interpretation and practice in their field – comparing and contrasting two major systems of competition law – but also an extremely lucid analysis of the various economic arguments used to highlight the consumer welfare enhancing or welfare reducing effects of business practices.

Présentation de l'éditeur : "This essential two-volume collection presents leading articles covering the breadth of comparative competition law. The set comprehensively examines the theories behind competition, the issues surrounding the abuse of dominance or monopolization and the vertical restraints of trade, as well as cartels, non-cartels and mergers along with an insight into practice and procedures. Together with an original introduction by the editor, the articles in this collection provide an invaluable window into scholarly and professional reflection on this diverse subject."

Offers a comparative and theoretical analysis of the new cross-sector competition law regime in Hong Kong.