Legal scholars have long been interested in predicting the effects of new rules and standards. They have focused very little on the timing of regulation. In a recent working paper co-authored with John Schuler, we explore how agent-based modeling can help. Agent-based modeling (“ABM”), as we explain, is a computer simulation with unique agents that...Read More
There were a number of significant developments from the end of 2023 through the beginning of 2024 covering important (and highly debated) topics, such as: (1) the role of contracting as an alternative to vertical integration when determining whether benefits such as the elimination of double marginalization (EDM) are merger specific; (2) who bears the...Read More
Antitrust agencies are increasingly interested in generative AI. This can be good news. As Sandy Pentland and I wrote last year (here), the competitive dynamics in this space can be supported by a careful antitrust agenda. While the AI Act should be improved if the EU wants innovation to flourish (see this article), enforcement actions...Read More
Dynamic competition defines an improvement path for antitrust law. At a high level, the dynamic competition approach appears to some as a twenty-first-century equivalent of the Chicago School of Antitrust. A recent article we co-authored shows that the analogy is only partially correct. Unlike the Chicago School of antitrust law, the dynamic competition scholarship is...Read More
Welcome to the Competition Stories – an exploration of recent courts and competition law agencies’ decisions. Authored by Makis Komninos, a renowned expert in the field. This column aims to go through the latest and most important developments in competition law in recent months. We call them “stories” because Makis has promised to include some anecdotes from time to time,...Read More
Dear readers, the Network Law Review is delighted to present you with this month’s guest article by Jason Potts, Distinguished Professor of Economics at RMIT University in Melbourne and Co-director of the Blockchain Innovation Hub at RMIT * This essay is the result of an ongoing discussion with Nicolas Petit, Joint Chair in Competition Law at...Read More
Dear readers, the Network Law Review is delighted to present you with this month’s guest article by Marina Lao, Edward S. Hendrickson Professor of Law at Seton Hall University School of Law. **** In early 2023, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed a rule that would ban virtually all noncompete clauses as “unfair methods of...Read More
The separation of powers principle and antitrust both relate to power and, notably, deal with the concentration of power. However, they are usually conceptualized, analyzed, and promoted separately. Separation of powers primarily refers to the branches of government or the main functions of the state and, in this respect, to public or state power or...Read More
This short article serves as an introduction to Thibault Schrepel’s latest working paper, “Decoding the AI Act: A Critical Guide for Competition Experts” (open-access) *** Europe is experiencing a legislative frenzy. In recent months, European institutions have adopted or debated the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”), the Digital Services Act (“DSA”), the Data Act, the Data...Read More
This short article serves as an introduction to Thibault Schrepel’s latest working paper, “Being an Arthurian: Complexity Economics, Law, and Science” (open-access) *** Complexity science provides a general framework for approaching all fields of science. Unlike other scientific methods, complexity looks at how multiple interactions between agents (be they humans, insects, animals, companies, etc.) create a...Read More
On June 27, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced proposed changes to Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (“HSR Act”) premerger notification form. Less than a month later, on July 19, the FTC and Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced proposed changes to the agencies’ joint merger guidelines. These proceedings are closely related, both part of the Biden administration’s...Read More
Dear readers, the Network Law Review is delighted to present you with this month’s guest article by Anu Bradford, Henry L. Moses Professor of Law and International Organization at Columbia Law School. She recently published her new book Digital Empires: The Global Battle to Regulate Technology. **** Momentum for regulating Big Tech is growing across the world. The European Union...Read More
Dear readers, the Network Law Review is delighted to present you with this month’s guest article by Luc Soete, Dean of Brussels School of Governance, Free University of Brussels (VUB) and Emeritus Professor, Maastricht University, and Sven Van Kerckhoven, Vice-Dean, of Brussels School of Governance and Research Professor European Economic Governance, Free University of Brussels (VUB). ****...Read More
Welcome to Crane’s Cartel, a trimonthly series where University of Michigan law professor Daniel Crane engages in hard-core mind-fixing. **** On July 19, the FTC and DOJ released the draft Merger Guidelines for public comment. Among the many headlines is the displacement by case law of formal economic analysis that had characterized former guidelines. The draft...Read More
