Chillin'Competition

I have just uploaded on SSRN a new paper of mine (available here) entitled ‘Disinformation about green technologies as a restriction of competition‘. A presentation of the paper delivered to my colleagues at LSE Law School can be found here.

In spite of the staggering progress of green technologies across a number of sectors (including energy, transportation and food), it is not infrequent to read gloomy characterisations of the transition to a decarbonised economy: for instance, heat pumps are as noisy as an aircraft (and do not work), electric vehicles catch fire (and are much more polluting than their internal combustion rivals) and lab-based alternatives to meat are outright dangerous for human health.

The steady stream of disinformation about green technologies is sometimes ideological. However, it is often (if not most of the time) a rational and expected reaction by incumbent operators to the threat posed by emerging alternatives to their products. Suffice it to think, in this sense, of how renewable energies are transforming the electricity industry (towards one that is less concentrated and that empowers citizens and industrial users) or the potential transformation that come with non-animal-based alternatives to products like butter or cheese.

To the extent that disinformation is driven by such economic concerns, competition law is potentially applicable. The paper provides a framework for the analysis of these strategies from a competition law standpoint. It builds heavily on the case law and administrative practice dealing with disparagement conduct in the pharmaceutical sector, which is the most obvious starting point for the assessment.

As I have not submitted it to a journal yet, it would be wonderful to get your comments on their piece. As ever, I am happy to clarify – in accordance with the ASCOLA declaration of ethics – that I have nothing to disclose.