International Antitrust at U.C. Berkeley
I am very much looking forward to teaching International Antitrust Law at U.C. Berkeley in Spring 2009. Here is the course announcement.
Modern antitrust law is global antitrust law. Driven by economic globalization and trade liberalization, antitrust laws have proliferated around the globe. At the same time, antitrust as a discipline has imported neoclassical price theory as its core analytical framework. The result is a vibrant, multi-faceted discipline, organized around a common core of analytical principles, yet reflective of the different cultural, political, and legal contexts in which government enforcement and litigation ultimately take place. In this course, we will focus on the common economic grammar of virtually all modern antitrust regimes as well as on their distinctive differences. Having a firm grasp of both is critical for building a modern, global antitrust case. Specifically, we will focus on:To streamline the preparation and dissemination of materials, I am planning on using Google Docs. I am also toying with the idea of making updates to Wikipedia part of my course assignments.Using recent cases as a basis for discussion, we will cover topics such as extraterritoriality (e.g., Empagran), institutional design (why does the U.S. have two agencies that enforce the antitrust laws, not to mention the States?), and the economics of mergers, exclusion, and innovation. We will focus specifically on the U.S., the European Union, and China. Many of our cases will involve high-technology firms that deal in tangible and intangible goods and services (e.g., Microsoft, Google, Oracle, Apple, etc.). Along the way, we will discuss legal and cultural aspects of globalization and various flavors of capitalism, and analyze the different functions that antitrust laws play in large (e.g., the U.S.) and small (e.g., Israel), rich and poor economies. The textbook for the course is: E. Elhauge & D. Geradin, Global Antitrust Law and Economics, Foundation Press (2007).
- Cross-border mergers and joint ventures
- Monopolization and abuse of dominance
- Global cartels
UPDATE (10/28/08): Here is a draft syllabus, which is still a work in progress. Any suggestions are welcome.
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October 28th, 2008 at 3:06 am
I agree that this topic is very stimulating. I’ve been teaching it for the first time this semester. What I’m not very sure of, is how the current financial crisis should affect the “traditional” way to teach it. Have you perhaps already thought about it?
October 28th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
In my view, the financial market crisis is a vivid reminder that markets are not naturally occurring phenomena. They are embedded in (and created and maintained by) a broader social, legal, and political context — here that of a democratic state with a relatively broad tolerance for persistent wealth disparity. Markets, in the modern post 17th Century sense, solve the problem of large scale coordination of production and trade in order to increase welfare. The key institutional ingredients of markets are contract, property, and competition, all of which are (of course!) institutions that have been made, not found. For competition law specifically, the financial market crisis will remind us of the role of the law in “marketplace design,” i.e., in the creation and implementation of rules (or optimization principles) describing what’s acceptable competition and what is not. Rules of property are affected by the financial market crisis, e.g., the strict oversight rules imposed in Germany. Rules of contract are equally affected, see e.g., the mortgage renegotiation plans in the U.S. Competition rules are no different. It is that broader context that should be worth highlighting.
October 28th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Is there some video material or documentary available for anti-trust policy practice? I think it will be a vivid review for students in class. Like, “Commanding the Heights” by Yergin is good for current (de)regulation debate. Do you have some suggestions?