Synopses & Reviews
Global competition now shapes economies and societies in ways unimaginable only a few years ago, and laws shape and maintain global competition, determining how effective global markets are and how they distribute benefits and harms. Competition (or "antitrust") law plays a central role in this framework of law. These laws are intended to protect the competitive process from distortion and restraint, and in the domestic context, they embody and reflect the relationships between markets, their participants and those affected by them.
On the global level, however, competition law is provided by those players that have sufficient "power" to apply their laws transnationally. In practice, this means that the US and the EU generally provide the competition law principles for global competition. This book examines this important and controversial aspect of globalization.
Part I examines the evolution of the current system of competition law for global markets, the factors that have shaped it, and how it operates today. There was once a widespread belief that harm to global competition was an international problem that should be addressed through international coordination, but the Cold War submerged this ideal and led to the current system. Since the 1990s efforts have been made to develop transnational cooperation in this area, but the basic system remains in place. The evolution and operation of this system cannot be understood without understanding the factors in national experience that have shaped them.
The second part of the book focuses on these national experiences and the roles they have played in the evolution of the global system. It examines US and European experience as well as the experience of the newer players such as China that will necessarily play major roles in the future.
Finally, the book examines the potential for creating a system that functions more effectively and provides more support for global economic and political development. Drawing on parts I and II and on social science as well as legal literature, it identifies the factors that will play a role in moving towards a more effective legal framework for global competition and suggests a pathway for needed reforms.
Review
"Global Competitionr provides a fascinating view on the problems, pitfalls and prospects of a proper regulatory regime for global competition." --Wolfgang Wurmnest, The American Journal of Comparative Law
Review
"Global Competitionr provides a fascinating view on the problems, pitfalls and prospects of a proper regulatory regime for global competition." --Wolfgang Wurmnest, The American Journal of Comparative Law
Review
and#8220;With The Atlantic Divide in Antitrust, Gifford and Kudrle have prepared a thoughtful and well-researched work, and their detailed treatment and rich comparison of approaches will be welcomed by academics and authorities on either side of the Atlantic.and#8221;
Review
"Gifford and Kudrle provide an intellectual tour de force in their comparative analysis of US and European antitrust. Their work offers important analysis of the major issues and will appeal to both academics and practitioner audiences."
Review
and#8220;With eloquence and thoroughness, Gifford and Kudrle examine the rich history and political economy underlying the transatlantic similarities and differences in the competition policy and law of the United States and the European Union. The authors critically examine where tensions remain, but also where convergences have emerged. The Atlantic Divide in Antitrust should be on the reading list for all antitrust lawyers, economists, and competition policy officials on both sides of the Atlantic.and#8221;
Synopsis
Global competition now shapes economies and societies in ways unimaginable only a few years ago, and competition (or 'antitrust') law is a key component of the legal framework for global competition. These laws are intended to protect competition from distortion and restraint, and on the national level they reflect the relationships between markets, their participants, and those affected by them. The current legal framework for the global economy is provided, however, by national laws and institutions. This means that those few governments that have sufficient 'power' to apply their laws to conduct outside their own territory provide the norms of global competition. This has long meant that the US (and, more recently, the EU) structure global competition, but China and other countries are increasingly using their economic and political leverage to apply their own competition laws to global markets. The result is increasing uncertainty, costs, and conflicts that burden global economic development.
This book examines competition law on the global level and reveals its often complex and little-understood dynamics. It focuses on the interactions between national and international legal regimes that are central to these dynamics and a key to understanding them.
Part I examines the evolution of the current global system, the factors that have shaped it, how it operates today, and recent efforts to alter that system-e.g., by including competition law in the WTO. Part II focuses on national competition law systems, revealing how national laws and experiences shape global competition law dynamics and how global factors, in turn, shape national laws and experiences. It examines the central roles of US and European law and experience, and it also pays close attention to countries such as China that are playing increasingly important roles in the global competition law arena. Part III analyzes current strategies for improving the legal framework for global competition and identifies the factors that may contribute to a system that more effectively supports global economic and political development. This analysis also suggests a pathway for moving toward that goal.
Synopsis
How is it that two broadly similar systems of competition law have reached different results across a number of significant antitrust issues? While the United States and the European Union share a commitment to maintaining competition in the marketplace and employ similar concepts and legal language in making antitrust decisions, differences in social values, political institutions, and legal precedent have inhibited close convergence.
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With The Atlantic Divide in Antitrust, Daniel J. Gifford and Robert T. Kudrle explore many of the main contested areas of contemporary antitrust, including mergers, price discrimination, predatory pricing, and intellectual property. After identifying how prevailing analyses differ across these areas, they then examine the policy ramifications. Several themes run throughout the book, including differences in the amount of discretion firms have in dealing with purchasers, the weight given to the welfare of various market participants, and whether competition tends to be viewed as an efficiency-generating process or as rivalry. The authors conclude with forecasts and suggestions for how greater compatibility might ultimately be attained.
About the Author
David J. Gerber, B.A. Trinity College (Conn.), M.A. Yale, J.D., University of Chicago is Distinguished Professor of Law, Chicago-Kent College of Law. He has been a visiting professor on the law faculties of the University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University and Washington University in the United States and the Universities of Munich and Freiburg in Germany and Uppsala and Stockholm in Sweden. He has been a visiting fellow at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs of Princeton University and at the Max Planck Institute for Research in Collective Goods in Bonn, Germany, and he has been a Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at Meiji University in Tokyo, Japan.
Table of Contents
1: Law, Competition, and Global Markets
Part I Sovereignty as the Framework for Global Competition
2: Global Competition Law: A Project Conceived and Abandoned
3: Sovereignty as a Solution: Extending the Reach of National Laws
4: Globalization and Competition Law: Conflict, Uncertainty, and the Promise of Convergence
Part II Domestic Experience and Global Competition Law
5: US Antitrust Law: Model and Lens
6: Competition Law in Europe: Market, Community, and Integration
7: Globalization, Development, and 'Other Players': Widening the Lens
Part III Competition Law as a Transnational Project
8: Convergence as Strategy: Scope and Limits
9: Reconceiving Competition Law for Global Markets: Agreements, Commitments, and Pathways
10: Global Competition and Law: Trajectories and Promises
1. Introduction: Competition, Law and the Global Economy
Part I Law, Sovereignty and Global Competition: The Evolving Relationship
2. Global Competition Law: A Project Conceived and Abandoned
3. Sovereignty as Solution: Extending the Reach of National Laws
4. Globalization, Competition and Law: Conflict, Uncertainty and the Promise of Convergence
Part II National Competition Law Experience and Global Competition: Shaping interests, Perceptions and Values
5. US Antitrust Law Experience: Model and Lens
6. Market, Community and Integration: Competition Law in Europe
7. Competition Law and The Newer Players
Part III Competition Law as a Transnational Project
8. The Potential Value of Global Competition Law
9. Reconceiving Competition Law for Global Markets
10. Toward a Legal Framework for Global Competition?