“Economics and law are the essential languages of modern competition policy. This volume skilfully sheds light on the economic concepts that need to be incorporated into the design and application of legal norms. It provides an excellent pathway to the truly bilingual analytical skills on which mastery in this field depends. William E. Kovacic, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission Our course has been specifically designed for economists and lawyers in private practice, in-house counsel and representatives of national competition authorities. There is no comprehensive work in Europe (Sibony 20083, Lianos 20104, Lianos & Genakos 2012), but also in the United States that systematically addresses important issues arising from the transformation of the law of evidence, the scope of regulatory and judicial control of such evidence or legal concepts such as causality after greater dependence on the economy. “Gunnar Niels and his colleagues have done an outstanding job of summarizing key concepts in industry organization and current debates for competing lawyers. It is remarkable because it covers all the main areas of legal practice (merger control, cartels, abuse of market power and state aid) with many references to real cases and decisions, and because it allows lawyers – and regulators – to ask the right questions when faced with complex economic investigations and analyses (e.g. what is the right choice of model, when are price correlation tests suspicious, can you predict the existence of a cartel based on market data?) It is a must for any competition lawyer” – Antoine Winckler, Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton LLP Due to the increasing relevance of economic evidence in competition law cases, the role of experts in judicial economics is of paramount importance today. The evidence is often presented by experts hired by the parties who provide advice on the economic merits of the case. Lawyers therefore collaborate with economists in the preparation and evaluation of a competition law case.
The legal system has taken stock of the challenges posed by economic evidence and has regulated how this evidence is assessed and its probative value examined. This is initially achieved by designing the law of evidence to address the challenges of economic proof (Standard of Proof). Competition authorities have also developed guidelines on soft law that address best practices for the submission and evaluation of economic and econometric evidence in administrative and judicial proceedings (Bundeskartellamt, Competition Commission, European Commission 2009 and 2011). However, these texts do not address the broader legal issues of evidence and how they should be assessed. This information is compared with the institutional characteristics of the legal process. It addresses several fundamental issues of competition law and competition economics and examines the applications of competition law and competition economics. The book, in turn, analyzes the interaction between intellectual property rights and patents in various aspects of competition law and examines the effects of information technology developments, such as big data analysis, on competition law. The book also discusses the impact of energy law reforms on energy markets from a competition law perspective.
The influence of economic discourse (Industrial Organization – IO – and Welfare Economics) on competition law is well documented. The most important principles and principles of competition law have undergone a profound change with the systematic use of neoclassical price theory as an external source of authority. More than in any other area of law, competition law is inextricably linked to the discipline of economics, as evidenced by frequent references to economic concepts and methodology of competition and regulatory authorities, court jurisprudence, and expanding soft law regarding the interpretation of competition law and regulatory laws. A common feature of this transformation of competition law is the emphasis on a largely synchronous analysis of the impact of specific business practices on consumers, users or, more broadly, on economic efficiency (Lianos, 2007)1. In fact, an important part of the evidence presented in competition and regulatory disputes is of an economic nature, such as econometric techniques and business models (Lianos & Genakos)2. Starting with merger control and slowly but steadily in the area of antitrust law, economic evidence has become an essential part of a successful competition law case, whether at public or court level, in competition law. The growing importance of private enforcement of infringements of competition law before national courts also raises important issues of proof and assessment of damages, thus highlighting the interaction between economic evidence and legal provisions on the collection and evaluation of evidence for the purposes of the decision. Based on the previous categorisation of economic evidence, we will collect and codify information on all publicly available decisions on merger, antitrust and antitrust cases of competition authorities, as well as court decisions in selected jurisdictions with significant competition law content (from 2004 to 2012) (phase 2). The course is designed to provide students with an in-depth understanding of how economics is applied to competition policy, as well as practical tools to apply it to cases.
“. the authors have done an excellent job of explaining the most important areas of competition law. Nilay B. Patel, Cambridge Law Journal Competition law is a classic field of economic analysis. This is mainly due to the fact that competition law uses terms such as market, price and competition and therefore must rely on economic know-how and analysis. In the United States, economic analysis has greatly influenced not only antitrust research, but also court decisions and enforcement. Antitrust law and economics are based on the traditional paradigm of neoclassical economics, which is based on the assumption that market participants, i.e. consumers and producers, are rational. This approach to competition law was then adopted in Europe under the banner of a “more economical approach”. Discusses the impact of big data analysis and disruptive technologies on competition law and the competitive economy Contains detailed information on the economic analysis of recent developments in competition law and policy in Europe and the United States ** Applications for the PGDip are submitted through our experienced distance learning partner Informa Connect.
