We study antitrust enforcement in which the fine must obey four legal principles: punishments should fit the crime, proportionality, bankruptcy considerations, and minimum fines. We integrate these legal principles into an infinitely-repeated oligopoly model, where bankruptcy considerations...

The relationship between industrial policy and merger control is one of the most controversial topics in European competition law. The debate has become particularly intense in recent years given the perceived failure of free markets and the return of government intervention into the economy. In...

The objectives of this paper are to: (i) describe the fining policy of the European Commission for breach of EU competition rules; (ii) assess this policy in light of the criticisms that have been made by academics, practitioners and other stakeholders; and (iii) to the extent these criticisms...

We propose a methodology for estimating the competition effects from entry when firms sell differentiated products. We first derive precise conditions under which Bresnahan and Reiss' entry threshold ratios (ETRs) can be used to test for the presence and to measure the magnitude of competition...

I analyze standard setting organizations' decisions on licensing policy and standard's technological specification, and the ensuing implications for social welfare. I find the conditions under which a licensing rule that grants monopoly power to the licensors whose technology is adopted in the...

This paper is a contribution to the 2nd edition of Craig and de Búrca, The Evolution of EU Law. It highlights key trends in EU law in the last ten to fifteen years, as regards the regulation of network industries and of services of general economic interest (SGEIs) more generally. Our central...

The Netherlands is an early mover in healthcare liberalisation. It has a dual policy towards competition enforcement in the sector: not only the general competition rules (the prohibitions on cartels and the abuse of dominance, and merger control) but also rules of sector specific competition...

This chapter aims to analysis the new dynamics at work in EU energy regulation. Since the publication of the European Commission’s ‘Sector Inquiry Report’ in January 2007, European energy companies have felt the cold wind of competition law - many for the first time. In addition, national...

We analyze maximal cartel prices in infnitely-repeated oligopoly models under leniency where fines are linked to illegal gains, as often outlined in existing antitrust regulation, and detection probabilities depend on the degree of collusion. We introduce cartel culture that describes how likely...

Should mergers among nonprofi t organizations be assessed diff erently than mergers among for-profit firms? A recent debate in law and economics, boosted by apparently one-sided court decisions, has produced the result that promoting competition is socially valuable regardless of the particular...