Competition

The fast-evolving relationship between the promotion of welfare-enhancing competition and the balanced protection of intellectual property (IP) rights has attracted the attention of policymakers, analysts and scholars. This interest is inevitable in an environment that lays ever greater emphasis on the management of knowledge and innovation and on mechanisms to ensure that the public derives the expected social and economic benefits from this innovation and the spread of knowledge. This book looks at the positive linkage between IP and competition in jurisdictions around the world, surveying developments and policy issues from an international and comparative perspective. It includes analysis of key doctrinal and policy issues by leading academics and practitioners from around the globe and a cutting-edge survey of related developments across both developed and developing economies. It also situates current policy developments at the national level in the context of multilateral developments, at WIPO, WTO and elsewhere.

Competition, or Antitrust, law is now a global phenomenon. It operates in more than 100 countries and the relationships among competition law systems are often complex and opaque. Competition law is also new to many countries, which creates uncertainty about how decisions will be made in these jurisdictions. This makes it critically important to understand both the similarities and differences among the systems and the relationships between them. A succinct introduction, this title breaks down the complicated and foreboding topic of competition law. Divided into four parts, this book covers the elements of competition laws, its decisions, targets, and globalization and the future of competition law. It also provides global context by looking at competition law in the US, Europe, and growing markets like Asia and Latin America. This title covers the most pressing issues of competition law in an informative and concise way. Drawing on his lifetime of global experience and research, David J. Gerber's Competition Law and Antitrust is an essential tool for anyone interested in competition or antitrust law.

In today's times, more and more companies pursue global sourcing strategies in some form and to some extent. The most prominent reason for the increased interest in global sourcing is the idea to benefit from factor cost differences between sourcing regions. However, recent research indicates that cross-border sourcing is no panacea to generate cost savings. There are situations in which international sourcing does not lead to the intended price reductions or even causes expensive backsourcing activities. Accordingly, the ambiguous image of global sourcing is the point of departure for the dissertation at hand. Thus, the main purpose of this thesis is to explore how global sourcing can contribute to a firm’s purchasing performance. The results indicate that the accumulation of social capital between the buying organisation and its international suppliers can increase the sourcing success. However, given the limited amount of resources for those intimate buyer-supplier relationships, close partnerships cannot be maintained with all suppliers. Consequently, the research at hand points in the direction that global sourcing can be a means to increase the intensity of competition in supply markets, facilitating the pursuit of more adversarial relationships.

Which political and institutional factors trigger reforms that enable the poor to benefit from the process of economic growth? How can the incentives of policy makers be influenced in order to achieve such a dynamic? These are the questions this study seeks to address by examining the transition process in post-communist countries. The author argues that political competition within an accepted and respected institutional environment has been a driving force in shaping the direction and success of transition reforms. Evidence shows that in countries with a sufficient degree of political competition, citizens responded to economic crises by calling for economic liberalization. Economic liberalization removed existing distortions, increased economic efficiency and raised public welfare. This activated a dynamic, self-enforcing reform process that also strengthened the political and economic power of the poor. In the absence of political competition, such a process failed to emerge, thereby contributing to the persistence of poverty. Based on these findings, there is good reason to postulate that some level of political competition is essential for transition reforms to improve economic efficiency and public welfare in a sustainable manner.

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this practical analysis of competition law and its interpretation in Japan covers every aspect of the subject-the various forms of restrictive agreements and abuse of dominance prohibited by law and the rules on merger control; tests of illegality; filing obligations; administrative investigation and enforcement procedures; civil remedies and criminal penalties; and raising challenges to administrative decisions. Lawyers who handle transnational commercial transactions will appreciate the explanation of fundamental differences in procedure from one legal system to another, as well as the international aspects of competition law. Throughout the book, the treatment emphasizes enforcement, with relevant cases analysed where appropriate. An informative introductory chapter provides detailed information on the economic, legal, and historical background, including national and international sources, scope of application, an overview of substantive provisions and main notions, and a comprehensive description of the enforcement system including private enforcement. The book proceeds to a detailed analysis of substantive prohibitions, including cartels and other horizontal agreements, vertical restraints, the various types of abusive conduct by the dominant firms and the appraisal of concentrations, and then goes on to the administrative enforcement of competition law, with a focus on the antitrust authorities’ powers of investigation and the right of defence of suspected companies. This part also covers voluntary merger notifications and clearance decisions, as well as a description of the judicial review of administrative decisions. Its succinct yet scholarly nature, as well as the practical quality of the information it provides, make this book a valuable time-saving tool for business and legal professionals alike. Lawyers representing parties with interests in Japan will welcome this very useful guide, and academics and researchers will appreciate its value in the study of international and comparative competition law.

Using case studies to investigate the design of competition law systems, this is the first major analysis of the extent to which each national, regional, or international system fulfils global norms including due process rights for litigants, reasonable expedition in adjudication, and knowledgeable decision-making.