The economics of EC competition law: Concepts, application and measurement, 2nd ed.

Book abstract:

Competition law is concerned with consolidating the economic benefits of an increasingly competitive European market. This second edition of the book brings developments in the economics of EC (European Community) law up-to-date. It also takes into account the fact that economic studies are having an increasing impact on competition policy, and that the organisations for regulating these policies work on a more economics-based system themselves. In doing so it assesses the implications of the legal perspective for business and commerce, as well the economic issues generated by EC law.

After the introduction, which provides information on the aims of EC competition policy and the employment of empirical techniques, the work is structured into three governing parts, each containing several sections. Part one on 'concepts' seeks to define, for example, what constitutes 'effective' competition in terms of perfect competition and monopolies, as well as dealing with evaluating market power and defining the relevant market. Part two looks at problems of application, in respect of vertical restraints, horizontal restraints, excessive pricing, price discrimination and merger control, and part three turns to questions of measurement. This section consists of work on empirical analysis, shock analysis, multiple regression analysis, elasticity estimates, price correlation, shipment and transport costs tests, bidding studies, 'Granger' causality and cointegration tests. The study concludes with a summary and appendices.

The book is aimed at practitioners, regulators, legal advisers, judges, policy-makers, academics, students, and anyone involved in competition law.