Chillin'Competition

I attach below a presentation I delivered yesterday at the Amsterdam Center for Law & Economics (UvA). This presentation summarizes and updates my PhD work.

In substance, It shows that Article 102 TFEU may provide a workable ex post remedy against  certain types of oligopolistic conducts. The concept of abuse of joint dominance may be applied to the artificial tactics which oligopolists adopt to protect an observed collusive equilibrium from the natural, disruptive effect caused by an external shock (entry, natural disaster, change in tax rate, etc.). In this sense, it is different from the proposals of Prof Whish re. excessive prices and Korah, Monti & Stroux re. facilitating practices.

A related aspect of my work challenges the over-optimistic, and naive view that the merger regulation is the ultimate preventive instrument against tacit collusion.

The good news is: my hosts in Amsterdam – very bright economists and lawyers – were quite attracted by the idea. They advised me to send it to officials within competition authorities.

A paper will shortly follow.

Presentation ACLE – 14 March 2011 – N Petit

A big thank you to Maarten Pieter Schinkel, Carmine Guerriero and all the other ACLE nice guys I met yesterday.

PS: With yesterday’s post on the Dutch competition authority, Alfonso’s  taste for dirty stories is now public. Unlike him, I have decided to spare our readers from stories on coffee shops and other infamous districts of Amsterdam.