From an economic point of view, there has to be a rationale for government intervention in markets in the form of consumer protection laws. This rationale results from economic inefficiencies in markets: particularly the occurrence of market failures. If markets do not work properly, inefficient...

Consumer law enforcement is high on the European legislator's agenda. The German consumer law enforcement landscape is not unaffected by these European developments. Traditionally, law enforcement in Germany has primarily been carried out by way of civil litigation relying on active consumer...

Key PointsFollowing (price-increasing) competition law infringements, consumer harm is two-fold.Consumers are negatively impacted by (i) the overcharge (they pay more for the goods actually purchased during the infringement period) and (ii) a ‘lost consumption effect’ (they buy less because...

Consumer protection shifts risks from consumers to businesses. This raises marginal costs and equilibrium prices. It is justified when markets are not strong enough to allocate contractual risks or accident risks efficiently, especially in cases of severe asymmetric information between suppliers...

Consumer protection shifts risks from consumers to businesses. This raises marginal costs and equilibrium prices. It is justified when markets are not strong enough to allocate contractual risks or accident risks efficiently, especially in cases of severe asymmetric information between suppliers...