Research Handbook on the Law and Economics of Competition Enforcement

This incisive Research Handbook identifies and assesses the emerging trends in competition enforcement, investigating how such changes impact the enforcement approach of competition authorities and the behaviour of companies in an ever-evolving business and regulatory environment.

Insightful contributions from experts in the field of competition enforcement law cover anticompetitive agreements, unilateral conduct, and merger control, as well as exploring topics such as algorithmic collusion, market power and data, big data, industrial policy, consumer welfare, common ownership, and competition enforcement in digital platforms. Combining academic, practitioner, and enforcer perspectives, this expansive Research Handbook sheds light on topical developments concerning competition enforcement, representing an expansion of existing enforcement practices. The Research Handbook concludes by considering how competition authorities could address the proliferating competition enforcement challenges arising from the appearance of new markets, novel business models, and technological developments.

Bringing together unique perspectives on new trends affecting competition enforcement, this timely Research Handbook will prove invaluable to law firms with an international competition or merger law practice, as well as to economic consultants and competition and regulatory authorities. Comprehensive and accessible, its analysis of the latest developments and perspectives in competition enforcement establish the Research Handbook as essential reading material for scholars of law and business across the globe.

Foreword xi
Olivier Guersent
Preface xiv
List of abbreviations xv
Introduction to the Research Handbook on the Law and Economics of
Competition Enforcement 1
Ionnis Kokkoris
1 Data collaboratives, competition law and the governance of EU data spaces 8
Nicolo Zingales
2 Price fixing: public and private enforcement 50
Daniel L. Rubinfeld
3 Pricing algorithms: the risk of collusion and personalised pricing 64
Antonio Gomes and Pedro Gonzaga
4 Competition enforcement: is the abuse toolbox adequate? 76
Maurits Dolmans, Henry Mostyn and Patrick F. Todd
5 Market power and big data: mapping the role of data under Article 102 TFEU 122
Massimiliano Kadar and Luca Manigrassi
6 Data-related competition concerns in a digital era: key challenges for
economic assessment 150
Yan Yu, Chris Whelan and Jack Mays
7 Power imbalances in online marketplaces: at the crossroads of
competition law and regulation 170
Despoina Mantzari
8 Normative goals in merger control: why merger control should not
attempt to achieve “better” outcomes than competition 193
Stefan Thomas
9 Addressing national security concerns in the merger context 217
Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Veronica Roberts and Ruth Allen
10 Common ownership and merger control enforcement 243
José Azar and Anna Tzanaki
11 The economics of merger control in a dynamic world: a focus on the
relevant counterfactual 280
Matthew Johnson and Ilaria Fanton
12 Killer acquisitions? Evidence and potential theories of harm 300
Pierre Régibeau
13 The boundaries of public interest in merger control: taking into account
non-competition issues including industrial policy and environmental
protection 324
Antonio Capobianco and Gaetano Lapenta
14 Perspectives on digital regulation 347
Liza Gormsen
15 Digital agoraphobia: exploitative abuses in digital markets 369
Maria Ioannidou
16 Antitrust enforcement in the digital markets: the forgotten role of the courts 390
Claudia Lemus
17 Is consumer welfare still fit for purpose in the EU competition regime? 410
Ioannis Kokkoris and Athanassios Skourtis
18 Competition enforcement and sustainability: the odd couple 448
Cristina Volpin
Conclusions 472
Ioannis Kokkoris

Index