Market driven healthcare is massively divisive. Opponents argue that a competition approach to medical treatment negatively impacts on quality, while advocates point to increased efficiencies. This book casts a critical eye over both positions to show that the concerns over quality are in fact real. Taking a two part approach, it unveils the fault lines along which healthcare provision and the pursuit of quality would in certain cases clash. It then shows how competition authorities can only effectively assess competition concerns when they ask the fundamental question of how the concept of healthcare quality should be defined and factored into their decisions. Drawing on UK, US and EU examples, it explores antitrust and merger cases in hospital, medical and health insurance markets to give an accurate depiction of the reality and challenges of regulating competition in healthcare provision.

This book examines the treatment of joint ventures (JVs) in EU competition law, and, at the same time, provides a comparison with US law. It starts with an analysis of the rather elusive concept of JVs, encompassing both concentrative JVs (subject to merger control) and non-concentrative JVs. Although focused on possible definitions of JVs in terms of competition law, it also includes a broader perspective (going beyond competition law) on the different legal models of structuring cooperation links between undertakings. At the core of the book is an attempt to build an analytical model for the assessment of JVs in terms of antitrust law, especially as regards Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The analytical model used proposes a set of sequential analytical levels, taking into account structural factors and specific factors related to the main constituent elements of the functional programs of JVs. The model is applied to a substantive assessment of four main types of JVs, identified on the basis of their prevailing economic function: R&D JVs, production JVs, commercialization JVs, and purchasing JVs. Also covered are particular situations of joint ownership of undertakings falling short of joint control. In the concluding part of the book, recent developments in JV antitrust law are put into context, within the wider reform of EU competition law. The book is comprehensive and up-to-date in terms of the reform of the EU framework on horizontal cooperation between undertakings, which was introduced at the end of 2010. (Series: Hart Studies in Competition Law - Vol. 6)

In recent times, commercial activities of companies exercising market power through their intellectual property rights have increasingly come under the scrutiny of the EU competition authorities. Intellectual Property and Competition Law: New Frontiers looks at how the leveraging strategies of Microsoft, the patent enhancement strategies of Astra Zeneca and Rambus, and the reverse payment settlements in the pharmaceutical sector have all attracted competition intervention, and how the courts have been forced to decide whether intellectual property issues are the primary subject matter of the case, or peripheral to that.
Drawing on these judgments, and others, this timely book brings together leading figures from practice and from academia who examine the increasingly complex and often strained relationship between intellectual property and competition law. Focusing primarily on EU law, but with valuable insight into US law, they highlight areas where new frontiers are emerging in the interface between the two, including; refusal to grant access to trade secrets; the new product test in consumer welfare; competition law in the pharmaceutical sector; standard setting; and FRAND (Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory terms) commitments. The book also considers the way in which the Commission's proposed changes to the application of Article 102 EC may impact on the protection of intellectual property rights.
In the post-Microsoft litigation era, this timely book captures the range of current thinking on the subject. The impressive list of contributors brings together leading figures from academia and practice, from intellectual property and competition law, and from law and economics, offering unrivalled expert analysis of this complex area.

This book results from a conference held in Singapore in September 2009 that brought together distinguished lawyers and economists to examine the differences and similarities in the intersection between intellectual property and competition laws in Asia. The prime focus was how best to balance these laws to improve economic welfare. Countries in Asia have different levels of development and experience with intellectual property and competition laws. Japan has the longest experience and now vigorously enforces both competition and intellectual property laws. Most other countries in Asia have only recently introduced intellectual property laws (due to the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement) and competition laws (sometimes due to the World Bank, International Monetary Fund or free trade agreements). It would be naive to think that laws, even if similar on the surface, have the same goals or can be enforced similarly. Countries have differing degrees of acceptance of these laws, different economic circumstances and differing legal and political institutions. To set the scene, Judge Doug Ginsburg, Greg Sidak, David Teece and Bill Kovacic look at the intersection of intellectual property and competition laws in the United States. Next are country chapters on Asia, each jointly authored by a lawyer and an economist. The country chapters outline the institutional background to the intersection in each country, discuss the policy underpinnings (theoretically as well as describing actual policy initiatives), analyse the case law in the area, and make policy prescriptions.

An established authority in the field, this is the core reference work for practitioners on electronic communications in the European Union. Giving insight into the regulations, the work provides a thorough analysis of the competition rules and regulatory framework applicable to electronic communications networks and services within the European Union. Electronic communications encompass all forms of electronic transmission of information, including telecommunications, broadcasting, and the internet. This second edition is updated to reflect the new regulatory package which has made changes to some of the fundamental mechanisms. A brand new section on data protection also features, giving an authoritative account of the legislation in the important new area of privacy protection in electronic networks. Detailed coverage of the recent case law of the Europan courts is provided including the European Commission's cases on the coordination mechanism for the relations between national regulatory authorities. The author team provides a wealth of expert knowledge on both regulation and general competition law, combining the first hand experience of Peter Rodford and rigorous academic analysis from Paul Nihoul. Peter Rodford is a former Head of the European Commission unit responsible for regulatory policy in electronic communications and took part on behalf of the Commission in the recent negotiation with the European Parliament and Council on the amendments to the EU regulatory framework.

Since 2005 the law of unfair commercial practices has undergone a revolution. This book presents the first comprehensive and critical examination of Directives 2005/29/EC concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices and 2006/114/EC concerning misleading and comparative advertising. The book offers the first detailed analysis of the various ways in which the two Directives have been transposed in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France, with a particular focus on incorrect transposition. The analysis includes an overview of the enforcement possibilities before national courts and authorities, and as such will be a valuable source for all practitioners, policy makers and academics working in the field of unfair trade law. Ultimately the aim of the book is to expound a sound interpretation of the relationship between unfair trade law and competition law in Europe, and it therefore engages in an original examination of these two cornerstones of European economic law. The author argues that unfair trade law and competition law should be understood as 'living apart together' - complementary but autonomous and sometimes even conflicting.

This monograph examines how European Union law and regulation address concentrations of private economic power which impede free information flows on the Internet to the detriment of Internet users' autonomy. In particular, competition law, sector specific regulation (if it exists), data protection and human rights law are considered and assessed to the extent they can tackle such concentrations of power for the benefit of users. Using a series of illustrative case studies, of Internet provision, search, mobile devices and app stores, and the cloud, the work demonstrates the gaps that currently exist in EU law and regulation. It is argued that these gaps exist due, in part, to current overarching trends guiding the regulation of economic power, namely neoliberalism, by which only the situation of market failure can invite ex ante rules, buoyed by the lobbying of regulators and legislators by those in possession of such economic power to achieve outcomes which favour their businesses. Given this systemic, and extra-legal, nature of the reasons as to why the gaps exist, solutions from outside the system are proposed at the end of each case study. This study will appeal to EU competition lawyers and media lawyers.

This volume in the Swedish Studies in European Law series, produced by the Swedish Network for European Legal Studies, heralds the new harmonised regime of private enforcement of EU competition law. In 2013, the Commission issued a Communication and Practical Guide to the quantification of harm in antitrust litigation and a Recommendation on collective redress. In 2014, the long-awaited Directive on actions for damages for infringements of EU competition law was finally adopted. In 2016, the Commission is expected to issue guidelines on the passing-on of overcharges. This book examines these recent developments and offers the perspectives of judges, officials, practitioners and academics. With a preface by Judge Carl Wetter of the General Court, the book explores five different themes. In section one, the main policy issues and challenges are presented. In section two, the new regime is placed in the bigger picture of recent EU law developments. In section three, the nexus between private enforcement and transparency is investigated. A comparative perspective is offered in section four by looking into private enforcement in five Member State jurisdictions. Finally, issues relating to causation, harm and indirect purchasers are explored in section five.

EU policy in the area of corporate governance and capital markets is being reoriented. Harmonization is less frequently seen as a concept in company law; regulatory competition is on the rise; and experiments in soft law are being carried out. Several Member States have recently reformed their corporate laws, wither as a reaction to financial scandals or in an effort to enhance investment. Convergence has increased as a result, particularly towards Anglo-American standards. Yet differences still exist, profoundly rooted in national systems of corporate governance. By contrast, capital markets law would seem to be an exception, having undergone intense harmonization in the last few years through the Lamfalussy regulatory architecture. Nonetheless, a European system of securities regulation is not yet in place. Regulation is predominantly domestic, while private laws affecting capital markets are still divergent. This volume examines the ongoing debate from an interdisciplinary perspective. Part 1 explores the political determinants of corporate governance and evaluates likely convergence and the role of regulatory competition. Part 2 considers the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MIFID) and its central role in harmonizing EU securities trading. Part 3 analyzes the MiFID more deeply and explores other measures including the Prospectus and Transparency Directives. Part 4 offers future perspectives on the post-FSAP era.

This concise and practical guide to the most important economic techniques and evidence employed in modern merger control draws on the authors' extensive experience in advising on European merger cases. It offers an introduction to the relevant economic concepts and analytical tools, and stand-alone chapters provide an in-depth overview of the theoretical and practical issues related to market definition, unilateral effects, coordinated effects and non-horizontal mergers. Each form of economic evidence and analysis is illustrated with practical examples and an overview of key merger decisions.

This book offers an unparalleled analysis of the emerging law and economics of competition policy in Latin America. Nearly all Latin American countries now have competition laws and agencies to enforce them. Yet, these laws and agencies are relatively young. The relative youth of Latin American competition agencies and the institutional and political environment in which they operate limit the ability of agencies to effectively address anti-competitive conduct. Competition policy is a tool to overcome anti-market traditions in Latin America. Effective competition policy is critical to assisting in the growth of Latin American economies, their global competitiveness, and improving the welfare of domestic consumers. This book provides new region specific insights on how to better achieve these aims. This authoritative volume will be of particular interest to competition agencies, academics in law, economics and Latin American Studies, practitioners around the world in the areas of antitrust and competition policy, policymakers, and journalists.

How the Chicago School Overshot the Mark is about the rise and recent fall of American antitrust. It is a collection of 15 essays, almost all expressing a deep concern that conservative economic analysis is leading judges and enforcement officials toward an approach that will ultimately harm consumer welfare.
For the past 40 years or so, U.S. antitrust has been dominated intellectually by an unusually conservative style of economic analysis. Its advocates, often referred to as "The Chicago School," argue that the free market (better than any unelected band of regulators) can do a better job of achieving efficiency and encouraging innovation than intrusive regulation. The cutting edge of Chicago School doctrine originated in academia and was popularized in books by brilliant and innovative law professors like Robert Bork and Richard Posner. Oddly, a response to that kind of conservative doctrine may be put together through collections of scores of articles but until now cannot be found in any one book. This collection of essays is designed in part to remedy that situation.
The chapters in this book were written by academics, former law enforcers, private sector defense lawyers, Republicans and Democrats, representatives of the left, right and center. Virtually all agree that antitrust enforcement today is better as a result of conservative analysis, but virtually all also agree that there have been examples of extreme interpretations and misinterpretations of conservative economic theory that have led American antitrust in the wrong direction. The problem is not with conservative economic analysis but with those portions of that analysis that have "overshot the mark" producingan enforcement approach that is exceptionally generous to the private sector. If the scores of practices that traditionally have been regarded as anticompetitive are ignored, or not subjected to vigorous enforcement, prices will be higher, quality of products lower, and innovation diminished. In the end consumers will pay.

This book demonstrates how economics is used in cases of competition in Japan. Competition between firms is usually the most effective way of allocating economic resources and achieving consumer and producer welfare. At the same time, a balance must be struck; firms must not be over-regulated, but neither must they be completely free to create a monopoly or oligopoly. Therefore, the role of competition policy is to maintain a balance by using the collaborative economics of industrial organization. The book uses economic analysis to evaluate case studies on Japanese anti-monopoly law, the Act Concerning Prohibition of Private Monopolization and Maintenance of Fair Trade (AMA), and enforcement in e.g. cartel cases, private monopolization cases, and merger cases. The Japan Fair Trade Commission implements a competition policy, primarily through the enforcement of the AMA, which promotes ingenuity and innovation in business by guaranteeing and enhancing fair and free competition, thereby ensuring economic vitality and consumer benefit. This book is the first authoritative and compact work on competition policy in Japan, which has a more-than-70-year history and is based on solid legal principles. In addition, the book seeks to promote law enforcement based on economic analysis, and includes studies describing the enforcement mechanisms used. It provides comprehensive yet concise information on the structure of the AMA, recent cases, and economic analysis. It also explains the circumstances regarding recent cases and analyzes how the economic policy has been applied to actual cases.

Every year, top-level market regulators, academics and legal practitioners attend the Annual Competition Workshop organised at the European University Institute in Florence. The speakers are invited to discuss a particular set of critical issues in the field of competition law and policy. The entire content of the proceedings - both the oral discussions and the written contributions - are published in the European Competition Law Annual series. This is the fourteenth in the series, reproducing the debate which in 2009 examined the evaluation of evidence and its judicial review in competition cases. The issues discussed included, among others, the burden of proof, the standard of proof and the standard of review with respect to antitrust infringement decisions and merger decisions, both at the level of the EU and at the national level in a number of Member States. In 2009, the Workshop participants were: Rafael Allendesalazar Kelyn Bacon Judge Gerald Barling Simon Bishop Judge Joachim Bornkamm Judge Michael Boudin Jochen Burrichter Dennis Carlton Fernando Castillo de la Torre Justin Coombs Lorenzo Coppi Claus-Dieter Ehlermann John Fingleton Ian Forrester Judge Nicholas Forwood Eric Gippini-Fournier Barry Hawk Alberto Heimler Per Hellstroem Pieter Kalbfleisch Robert Kwinter Bruno Lasserre Philip Lowe Mel Marquis Damien Neven Judge Aindrias O Caoimh Luis Ortiz Blanco John Ratliff J. Thomas Rosch Heike Schweitzer Mario Siragusa Jacques Steenbergen James Venit Judge Nils Wahl Judge Vaughn Walker

In a period when the nature and scope of the European internal market is hotly contested, this collection offers a topical analysis of the most pressing issues relating to market integration and public services in the EU. As the debate continues over the balance between state control and market freedom, questions are also raised about the relationship between EU regulation and national policy choices and the 'joint responsibility' of the Union and the Member States.
Outlining the most important current issues relating to market integration and public services in the EU, Market Integration and Public Services in the European Union also addresses the underlying, systemic questions of the relation between public services and markets, and services and the consumer. Chapters also examine the application of state aids and procurement law to public services. The final two chapters focus on two public service sectors where the mix of Treaty rules, case law, and legislation has operated in rather different ways: public service media and health services

In developing a clear analysis of the practical relations between economics and law, no jurisdictions have been more exemplary than Australia and New Zealand. In this 30-year retrospective of the most important essays of economist Maureen Brunt, lawyers and others occupied with competition issues should find a harvest of insights into the interdependence between law and economics, and the manner in which they should be blended in the courts. The contributions include the following: the development of conceptual schemes that are both economically meaningful and legally operational; in-depth investigation of the core problems of market definition and market appraisal; development of a concept of competition as the inverse of market power; and techniques for making the best use of economists' expert evidence. The essays appear in the order in which they were first published, and thus represent a kind of historical progression, reflecting both developments in Australian and New Zealand law and the depth and scope of the author's own thinking.