Competition Policy

In these times of uncertainty, the states have stepped into a more meaningful role in competition policy in the United States. But effective competition policy would best aim to build...

Dear Readers,   Competition policy has never existed in isolation from politics, economics, or institutional change. But the relationship between those forces is becoming more explicit, more contested, and more...

Most applications of behavioral economics in competition policy focus on consumer inertia and framing effects. We believe that behavioral economics may have even more to offer than the competition community...

Does competition policy do redistribution? Should it? This article tackles that first question, looking at redistribution between firms, particularly in creative industries. The answer is positive: there is a variety...

Increasing economic consolidation has led to interest, policy debate, and discussion surrounding antitrust and consumer protection law. A return to first principles in the antitrust world has many in the...

By: John Oxenham, Andreas Stargard, Stephany Torres & Megan Friday* I. Introduction South Africa is a pioneer among African jurisdictions employing a consideration of the “public interest” in antitrust merger...

By: Bruce Lyons (Center for Competition Policy, UEA) The commemoration of the Tercentenary of Adam Smith’s birth prompted a revisit to one of the most renowned quotes in competition policy, seeking a deeper understanding of its context and the true intentions behind it. The question arose as to whether Smith would have sanctioned modern cartel […]

By: Elettra Bietti (ProMarket) Although talk of data in competition and antitrust policy is ubiquitous, very few in competition and antitrust circles have asked the question: what actually is “data”? One might define data as an a-contextual set of 1s and 0s, a material “thing” or “object” that exists “out there” in a fixed material […]

By Pier Luigi Parcu & Marco Botta (European University Institute), Giorgio Monti (Tilburg Law and Economics Center) The introductory chapter provides an overview of the structure and content of the book. In addition, it points out the emerging trends on the role of economic analysis in EU competition policy identified in the following chapters of […]

British economist Joan Robinson’s profound contributions to industrial economics still resonate across a wide range of subject matter. Her work is particularly relevant in the context of heightened concerns over whether product market concentration in developed Western economies has, in recent decades, resulted in both increased market power and increased buyer power – and whether […]

By Maarten Pieter Schinkel & Leonard Treuren (University of Amsterdam) Industry-wide voluntary agreements are touted as a means for corporations to take more corporate social responsibility (CSR). We study what type of joint CSR agreement induces firms to increase CSR efforts in a model of oligopolistic competition with differentiated products. Consumers have a willingness to […]

By José L. Moraga-González & Evgenia Motchenkova (VU University Amsterdam) A start-up engages in an investment portfolio problem by choosing how much to invest in a ”rival” project, which threatens the position of an existing incumbent, and a “non-rival” project. Anticipating its acquisition by the incumbent, the start-up strategically distorts its portfolio of projects to […]