Summer 2023
The Network Law Review publishes four issues a year. Articles go online one by one and are gathered by season. This issue closed with 24 publications.
Contents
Newest first14 September 2023
Complexity Science for Antitrust Lawyers
This short article serves as an introduction to Thibault Schrepel’s latest working paper, “Being an Arthurian: Complexity Economics, Law, and Science” (open-access)…
Read Complexity Science for Antitrust LawyersCite Complexity Science for Antitrust Lawyers
11 September 2023
A Bad Merger of Process and Substance: Changing the Merger Guidelines and Premerger Review Form
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.
Read A Bad Merger of Process and Substance: Changing the Merger Guidelines and Premerger Review FormCite A Bad Merger of Process and Substance: Changing the Merger Guidelines and Premerger Review Form
6 September 2023
What is at Stake if Antitrust Regulation Fails?
Momentum for regulating Big Tech is growing across the world. The European Union has been leading this fight for the past decade, frequently leveraging its antitrust laws, data protection laws, and other regulatory instruments to reclaim control over the industry.
Read What is at Stake if Antitrust Regulation Fails?Cite What is at Stake if Antitrust Regulation Fails?
30 August 2023
Deglobalisation and competition policy: the challenge to European economic integration
Luc Soete and Sven Van Kerckhoven
In March 2023, the European Commission (EC) announced it would relax its state aid rules so that its Member States would have more leeway to co-invest with private actors in projects that further the green transition and reinforce the EU’s industrial independence.
Read Deglobalisation and competition policy: the challenge to European economic integrationCite Deglobalisation and competition policy: the challenge to European economic integration
2 August 2023
Law over Economics in the 2023 Draft Merger Guidelines
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.
Read Law over Economics in the 2023 Draft Merger GuidelinesCite Law over Economics in the 2023 Draft Merger Guidelines
25 July 2023
Some Background to Complexity Economics
Brian Arthur: I’m delighted to be here, even if it is pretty early in the morning here in California. What I want to tell you is my version of what I think complexity economics is about. I will not go into technical details, but I want to give you an overview.
Read Some Background to Complexity EconomicsCite Some Background to Complexity Economics
24 July 2023
Competition Policy Enforcement in a Dynamic World
There is little doubt that all of the sectors where Competition Policy is commonly enforced exhibit some dynamic characteristic, be it because of investments, innovation, network effects, switching costs or, more simply, entry and exit.
Read Competition Policy Enforcement in a Dynamic WorldCite Competition Policy Enforcement in a Dynamic World
21 July 2023
Navigating the Death of Competition: The Emergence of Business Ecosystems and Beyond
In my years as a management advisor and consultant, I have been privy to the operations of senior executive teams facing new realities. This experience is invariably marked by persistent strategic uncertainty.
Read Navigating the Death of Competition: The Emergence of Business Ecosystems and BeyondCite Navigating the Death of Competition: The Emergence of Business Ecosystems and Beyond
20 July 2023
Regulation and Competition in Digital Ecosystems: Some Missing Pieces
Given recent developments in the digital space, one could be forgiven in thinking that regulators have embarked on an extensive exercise of platform design targeting the largest players in online services.
Read Regulation and Competition in Digital Ecosystems: Some Missing PiecesCite Regulation and Competition in Digital Ecosystems: Some Missing Pieces
19 July 2023
Platforms’ Treacherous Turn
Friso Bostoen and Nicolas Petit
The ‘open early, closed late’ strategy is taking a heavy toll on consumers in the digital economy. The pure case of ‘open early, closed late’ occurs when a digital platform imposes prices after a period of free and unlimited supply.
Read Platforms’ Treacherous TurnCite Platforms’ Treacherous Turn
18 July 2023
Market Definition And Market Power Evaluation In Dynamic Industries
This brief contribution will focus on three aspects of dynamic competition. Firstly, I’ll try to provide a tentative definition of dynamic industries/markets, identifying their main characteristics.
Read Market Definition And Market Power Evaluation In Dynamic IndustriesCite Market Definition And Market Power Evaluation In Dynamic Industries
17 July 2023
Rethinking Regulation for Dynamic Digital Ecosystems
Examining regulatory responses to technological advancements reveals a recurring pattern. Technological innovation often paves the way for widespread commercialization and adoption.
Read Rethinking Regulation for Dynamic Digital EcosystemsCite Rethinking Regulation for Dynamic Digital Ecosystems
14 July 2023
Ecosystems and Managers
This session is about ecosystems and managers. One can interpret that in many ways. I want to interpret it in a way that is not perhaps what the organizers had in mind: I want to argue that ecosystems and managers are substitutes for one another.
13 July 2023
A Rising Trend in Market Concentration: Myth or Reality?
Benoît Durand and Apolline Jaoui
Over the last couple of years, a “new conventional wisdom” (Shapiro, 2018) has emerged: there is evidence of a widespread increase in market concentration in both the U.S. and the EU economies over the last few decades.
Read A Rising Trend in Market Concentration: Myth or Reality?Cite A Rising Trend in Market Concentration: Myth or Reality?
12 July 2023
The EU Digital Markets Act: A One-of-a-kind Regulation
Sometimes, to understand where we are, we must first understand where we came from. The Digital Markets Act (“DMA”) is the outcome of a long reflection process that was informed by the Commission’s own antitrust enforcement experience, as well as by the realisation that some issues related to…
Read The EU Digital Markets Act: A One-of-a-kind RegulationCite The EU Digital Markets Act: A One-of-a-kind Regulation
11 July 2023
The EU Digital Markets Act: It Is Not About Markets But Ecosystem Failures!
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) represents a new institutional framework redefining the principles of what constitutes anticompetitive behaviour and abuse of advantageous position in the digital economy, and perhaps more importantly, the domain within which such conduct is assessed.
Read The EU Digital Markets Act: It Is Not About Markets But Ecosystem Failures!Cite The EU Digital Markets Act: It Is Not About Markets But Ecosystem Failures!
10 July 2023
Dynamic Competition, Digital Ecosystems, and Competition Policy
The current digital transformation can be understood as a Schumpeterian revolution of the entire economy and society through an ongoing process of innovation and technological change as the most important driver of economic development.
Read Dynamic Competition, Digital Ecosystems, and Competition PolicyCite Dynamic Competition, Digital Ecosystems, and Competition Policy
7 July 2023
Big Tech Acquisitions and Innovation Incentives
Raphaël De Coninck and Christoph von Muellern
In this note, which partly draws on discussions and papers presented at the inaugural DCI conference, we argue that merger policy in the tech sector must be based on solid empirical evidence.
Read Big Tech Acquisitions and Innovation IncentivesCite Big Tech Acquisitions and Innovation Incentives
6 July 2023
Big-Tech Acquisitions and Venture Capital Funding for Start-ups
Johannes M. Bauer and Tiago S. Prado
Start-up acquisitions by larger technology firms, including by “big techs” such as Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft, were long regarded as an integral part of innovation in fast-paced, high-technology sectors.
Read Big-Tech Acquisitions and Venture Capital Funding for Start-upsCite Big-Tech Acquisitions and Venture Capital Funding for Start-ups
5 July 2023
The UK Facebook/Giphy Case: Taking Dynamic Competition Seriously
There are some frequently mentioned statistics about the number of acquisitions carried out by the large digital platforms and, in particular, about the lack of merger control intervention.
Read The UK Facebook/Giphy Case: Taking Dynamic Competition SeriouslyCite The UK Facebook/Giphy Case: Taking Dynamic Competition Seriously
4 July 2023
Frameworks for Dynamic Competition
Gabriele Corbetta and Joe Perkins
Concerns around dynamic competition are increasingly featuring in merger control, particularly in the UK. Such concerns have been an important factor in the CMA’s decisions to prohibit the mergers between Microsoft and Activision and between Meta and Giphy.
Read Frameworks for Dynamic CompetitionCite Frameworks for Dynamic Competition
3 July 2023
Dynamic Challenges to Market Definition and Market Power Evaluation in Antitrust Cases: The Long Road Ahead
Dynamic competition is the new kid on the block. It seeks to redirect the focus of competition policy towards innovation, value creation and economic change. Dynamism is indeed at the heart of competition. What’s not to like? The intuitive appeal of dynamic competition is hard to contest.
Read Dynamic Challenges to Market Definition and Market Power Evaluation in Antitrust Cases: The Long Road AheadCite Dynamic Challenges to Market Definition and Market Power Evaluation in Antitrust Cases: The Long Road Ahead
30 June 2023
Dynamic Competition, Organizational Capabilities, and M&A: A Short Synopsis
Competition increases when rivalry incentivizes firms to adopt more “efficient” practices. However, performing a fixed set of activities more efficiently only facilitates “static” competition.
Read Dynamic Competition, Organizational Capabilities, and M&A: A Short SynopsisCite Dynamic Competition, Organizational Capabilities, and M&A: A Short Synopsis
29 June 2023
Competition Between AI Foundation Models
Thibault Schrepel and Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland
This short article serves as an introduction to Thibault Schrepel and Sandy Pentland’s latest working paper, “Competition between AI Foundation Models: Dynamics and Policy Recommendations” (open-access)…
Read Competition Between AI Foundation ModelsCite Competition Between AI Foundation Models