Tag Archives: EU Antitrust

Is OPEC a (successful) cartel?

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded in Baghdad in 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Nowadays the international organisation counts 14 Members. OPEC’s mission is: to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its Member Countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets in order to secure anContinue reading “Is OPEC a (successful) cartel?”

Open Standards to Boost the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) integrates the physical world into a computer-based system to allow objects to collect and exchange data. This inter-networking should bring improved efficiency, accuracy and economic benefits. However, many of the benefits of the IoT will occur only as a result of a widespread approach, sharing of data across the valueContinue reading “Open Standards to Boost the Internet of Things”

Is economics helpful when it comes to cartels?

Economics implies that cartels are inherently unstable and so should be short-lived because they price above the Nash equilibrium. However, the evidence is cartels are often long-lived. When players interact for an infinite number of times, as do firms in real markets, they can escape the short-run Nash equilibrium of the Prisoner Dilemma. In theContinue reading “Is economics helpful when it comes to cartels?”

When the market definition/market share approach does not work to assess market power

Traditionally, competition authorities start their assessment by identifying the competitive scene, i.e. the relevant market, which includes the firm’s product and potential substitutes. They then calculate market shares to decide whether the firm(s) under scrutiny has enough market power to benefit from the adoption of an anticompetitive strategy.  However, when market shares are not aContinue reading “When the market definition/market share approach does not work to assess market power”

Economics and Competition Law

“Economics is the study of how society decides what, how and for whom to produce.” Begg, Fischer and Dornbusch “A lawyer who has not studied economics…is very apt to become a public enemy.“ Justice Brandeis (1916) “To abandon economic theory is to abandon the possibility of rational antitrust law.“ Judge Robert Bork (1978)   ItContinue reading “Economics and Competition Law”