Book section : Chapter
Lawful cartels
- Abstract:
- The prohibition on hard-core cartels unites competition law regimes across the globe. Nevertheless, not every agreement among competitors is unlawful. Rather, a wide array of acceptable cartel or cartel-like agreements are presumed to create efficiencies or promote industrial and social policies. This chapter illustrates that there is no common framework that guides the assessment of lawfulness. Competition laws differ in the types of agreements they deem as lawful, the justifications invoked, and the assessment strategies (e.g., legal or economic analysis, exclusion rules, or enforcement discretion). In particular, it points to a disconnect between the underlining economic and non-economic benefits invoked to justify certain types of cartels and the strategies guiding their assessments. It advocates rationalising the assessment by aligning the justifications with the assessment strategies, thereby enhancing the effectiveness, transparency, legal certainty, democratic legitimacy, and political accountability of the competition law regimes.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
Actions
Access Document
- Files:
-
-
(Preview, Accepted manuscript, pdf, 486.1KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.4337/9781839102875.00017
- Publisher:
- Edward Elgar Publishing
- Host title:
- Research Handbook on Cartels
- Pages:
- 135–155
- Chapter number:
- 8
- Publication date:
- 2023-03-21
- DOI:
- EISBN:
- 9781839102875
- ISBN:
- 9781839102868
- Language:
-
English
- Keywords:
- Subtype:
-
Chapter
- Pubs id:
-
2298536
- Local pid:
-
pubs:2298536
- Deposit date:
-
2025-11-06
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Peter Whelan and Or Brook.
- Copyright date:
- 2023
- Rights statement:
- © Editor and Contributors Severally 2023. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
- Notes:
- This is the accepted manuscript version of the article. The final version is available online from Edward Elgar Publishing at https://dx.doi.org/10.4337/9781839102875.00017
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