This thesis analyses the Monopolies and Mergers Commission's investigations of referred bids over the period 1974-84. The purposes of undertaking this study were as follows. First, to discuss the practice of merger policy and the framework within which it has been set. Second, to compare this with the theoretical and empirical debates which have been developing in relation to mergers and merger policy. Third, to analyse the extent to which a predictive model could be constructed so that significant elements of the public interest may be identified. It was shown that it is official policy to give mergers, in general, the benefit of the doubt. This is inspite of the fact that most of the evidence involving merger activity has tended to be critical of their impact. In addition, it also appears that market discipline does not drive merger activity. In terms of interpreting the Monopolies and Mergers Commission's reports, probit analysis was unable to identify elements of the public interest which appeared to be consistently important to the Commission. In addition, univariate and multivariate analysis showed that it was virtually impossible to distinguish between raiders and targets. Thus, as it stands, merger policy does not provide meaningful, or clear, signals to either potential raiders or targets. Current policy deems that, under certain circumstances, mergers are undesirable. The problem is that the circumstances are unknown. Thus published guidelines are essential given the need for a merger policy. Further, we conclude that a stronger policy is necessary. In particular it should be incumbent upon firms to show expected benefits rather than a lack of detriments.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-88). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (M.A.)--Silpakorn University, 1986. / In Thai; abstract also in English. Added t.p.: A study of the Mao Muang system in the west coast region of Siam (1850-1893 A.D.). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 243-270). Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin. / A thesis submitted to the graduate school of the University of Wisconsin in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Typewritten. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record.

Inaug.-diss.--Giessen. / Lebenslauf. "Literaturverzeichnis": p. [78]-80.

Thesis (M.A.)--Silpakorn University, 1986. / In Thai; abstract also in English. Added t.p.: A study of the Mao Muang system in the west coast region of Siam (1850-1893 A.D.). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 243-270).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Economics, June 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

The general problem involved in this study is one of resource utilization. The specific approach of this study shall take the form of an inquiry into the relation between monopoly and waste.

Traditionally, transnational land deals have been described in terms of the purportedly level playing field of the competitive market. The law is seen as a neutral device, merely increasing efficiency in the management of surplus and shortage; scarcity is viewed as a natural constraint; power is considered irrelevant. However, an analysis of the historical structures of agricultural land ownership and contemporary land transactions in Brazil uncovers the systematic monopolization of land resources that was set in place during colonization and has persisted across a variety of political regimes, sustained by hierarchical legal institutions. In sharp contrast to the narrative of impersonal axes of supply and demand, this dissertation develops a theoretical framework suggesting that i) the capitalist market tends towards highly concentrated economic structures, or monopoly; ii) at the core of this propensity to high concentration is Braudel’s “alliance between the merchant and the prince”: the mutual dependence between the biggest players in the market on a quest for monopolies and the holders of the political power of the state; and iii) this alliance shapes the law and is, in turn, influenced and constrained by law, where law is a cornerstone of market construction situated at the intersection of the political and economic spheres. This framework recognizes that law supports the capitalist market by writing an idea of the future into the present and favoring certain expectations, interests, and values over others. Law structures time by determining precedence, subordination, and consequence; law also delineates, distributes, and organizes space. In particular, property rights are the heart of the alliance between merchant and prince, giving the former the power to define the legal structures of the market through their negotiations with the latter. The rise of cross-border land transactions is the latest iteration of these age-old dynamics, unfolding against the backdrop of concentrated land ownership and exacerbating its growth. The transformation of land into a financial asset obscures ownership, hampers regulation, and facilitates concentration; it is the core mechanism for globalized land ownership. The framework proposed in this dissertation sheds light on the hierarchies impressed onto Brazil’s land map and enshrined in its codes. These unequal power relationships and the legal entitlements that allow land monopolists to intentionally heighten resource scarcity have long been obfuscated by the competitive market model. The three-part framework (monopoly, the alliance, and the law) offers a more accurate account of transnational land deals, and of avenues of access to and control of land in Brazil and beyond. In the current context of escalating climate crisis, as land is increasingly regarded as a vital resource and traded both within and across borders, this reframing contributes to an urgent conversation.

In this dissertation the opening up to competition of the ferry route between the cities Elsinore in Denmark and Helsingborg in Sweden is analysed. The Danish government was forced by a decision adopted by the Competition Directorate (DG IV) in the European Commission to open up this ferry route for ferry operators other than the state owned Danish operator, Danish Rail. Accordingly, the main case analysed in this dissertation illustrates the relationship between the competition authorities in the European Union (EU), empowered with supranational legislative powers through article 90 in the Treaty, and the member states. In the literature, DG IV, the service within the Commission mainly responsible for competition policy, is often described as an autonomous body. The main aim of this dissertation is to assess the autonomy of DG IV in its enforcement and implementation of EU competition policy; and, as the presentation of the main case above indicates, this question is discussed in the context of the introduction of EU competition policy into the domain of public sector monopolies. Two main broad approaches are adopted in analysing this area. First, a systems approach is set out, in which the EU competition policy-making regime is analysed by focusing on its development, legal foundation, and practical formulation in general and in relation to public sector monopolies. The aim here is primarily to reveal the nitty gritty of this regime, which till now has been only fragmentally described in the literature, and to ease the modelling of the main case study undertaken in this dissertation. The Elsinore case is then analysed by adopting three well known perspectives for analysing EU decision-making: an interest group approach; an interorganisational approach; and finally, an institutional approach. The analysis's main observation is that an institutional approach to EU decisionmaking seems to provide us with a more thorough understanding of the processes focused on here than the two other approaches, and that this, at least, should lead us to rephrase the notion of an autonomous DG IV in this area.