Anti-Competitive Behaviours and the Remedies Available for Redress

Anti-Competitive Behaviours and the Remedies Available for Redress – Frederick M. Abbott (Florida State University – College of Law)

ABSTRACT: In this chapter, core doctrines of competition law generally applied by national authorities are reviewed. Most competition laws examine anti-competitive behavior in relation to agreements between enterprises, on the one hand, and monopolization or abuse of dominant position, on the other. Anti-competitive activity is further viewed as either ‘horizontal’ or ‘vertical’. Horizontal anti-competitive activity refers to conduct among independent enterprises that are suppliers of competitive (or potentially competitive) goods or services. Vertical anti-competitive activity refers to the supply chain controlled by a producer, beginning with inputs to production, into production, intermediate distribution and, ultimately, the retail sale of goods or services.

Some types of agreement between enterprises are so inherently anti-competitive that proof of the existence of the agreement is sufficient to establish a violation. Such agreements are referred to either as per se anti-competitive or hard-core competition law violations. Other types of conduct that may seem anti-competitive on their face may also have a pro-competitive justification, such that competition authorities assess the balance. This balancing is often referred to as assessment under the “rule of reason”. For a competition law violation to be found, the anti-competitive aspect of the arrangement should outweigh potential pro-competitive benefits.