Definition of the relevant market : (lack of) harmony between industrial economics and competition law

Market definition plays a critical role in EC competition law, as the first step of any investigation into the nature of competition in a given industry. While not an end in itself, definition of the relevant market serves to identify those products and areas which effectively restrain the behaviour of the firms of interest, such that those firms cannot act independently within the market. However, the main challenge in this process is to outline which products should be included within the market, and which should be left outside its bounds. Whereas traditional market definitions highlight product characteristics, functionality and intended use as key provisions, modern competition-law inquiries attempt to reformulate the market delineation exercise in more economic terms. This book strives for a greater harmony between law and economics in defining antitrust markets