Proefschrift--Amsterdam. / Corrigenda slip inserted. Preface in Dutch and English. Bibliography: p. 248-251.

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1957. / Dairy Farmers Price Stabilization Association "meeting announcement" and "program" mounted on pages [110] and [111] respectively. Includes bibliographical references (p. 105-106).

With the exception of a brief legislative stay of execution, resale price maintenance (RPM), has been illegal per se in the United States since a 1911 Supreme Court decision. The Court has however, afforded vertical territorial restraints the protection of the rule of reason. A growing body of economic literature has proposed numerous pro-competitive uses of RPM by manufacturers. In addition, the literature indicates that vertical territorial and vertical price restraints are both different means of achieving the same end i.e., both are economic tools employed by manufacturers to achieve efficiencies in their distribution system. Opponents of RPM counter this assertion by arguing that if both are identical economic phenomenon, then manufacturers have no need to employ RPM since they can use vertical market division in its place. In this paper I will show that under demand conditions characterized by the outlets hypothesis, RPM is Pareto-superior to vertical market division. It is equally possible to imagine market conditions under which the opposite is true. Since the court room is an ill-suited home for such business decisions, the law should not continue to maintain its present artificial distinction between RPM and vertical market division. The economic consequences of both are essentially the same, hence, I advocate that RPM also be brought under the protection of the rule of reason. / Master of Arts / incomplete_metadata

PROTECTION OF COMPETITION - BLOCK EXEMPTIONS The main purpose of my thesis is to describe and analyze one aspect of a block exemption regulation for vertical agreements, namely resale price maintenance. The thesis is composed of six parts, one of them dealing with block exemptions in general and the rest of them focusing on resale price maintenance. Chapter one introduces the topic of block exemptions and explains the features of block exemptions that are common to all of them. Chapter two presents the definition of resale price maintenance and describes the difference between fixed, minimum, maximum and recommended prices. Chapter three describes economic theories, which have influence on legal treatment of resale price maintenance. The chapter is divided into three subchapters, whereas the first one explicates pro-competitive effects of resale price maintenance, the second one focuses on its anticompetitive effects and the third one summarizes the economic theories of impact of resale price maintenance. Chapter four examines the legal framework of resale price maintenance in European law. Firstly, it describes the treatment of fixed, minimum, recommended and maximum prices. Then it analyzes resale price maintenance as an object restriction and examines possible exemption under Article 101 (1) of...

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Economics, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND DEWEY. / Includes bibliographies. / by Jean Tirole. / Ph.D.

The United States and the European Union operate in the world’s two most powerful systems of competition law and policy, whose enforcement and judicial institutions employ similar concepts and legal language. Nevertheless, the two systems have reached different results across a number of significant antitrust issues. One such issue is the approach taken towards vertical price fixing and, in particular, the practice referred to as resale price maintenance. Resale price maintenance generally includes the predetermination of a fixed or minimum retail price in a vertical distribution agreement.   In European competition law, resale price maintenance is considered a hardcore restriction of competition and is thereby presumed to infringe Article 101(1) TFEU by its object. The presumption is strong and has proved difficult to rebut in practice. In the United States, the US Supreme Court changed its approach towards resale price maintenance in its 2007 landmark decision Leegin. The majority overturned its nearly century old precedent regarding resale price maintenance, concluding that the practice is no longer to be treated as a per se violation of antitrust law but should instead be subject to a rule of reason analysis. The judgment was the last in a series of different cases, all demonstrating a complete reversal in the approach towards both price and non-price vertical restraints. The change of approach in the United States was largely influenced by developments in economic thinking addressing the potential pro-competitive effects of resale price maintenance. Even though the European Union has modernised and renewed its competition rules to be more in line with economic theory, some uncertainties and difficulties seem to remain regarding the scope of the prohibition on anti-competitive agreements and the possible efficiencies resulting from vertical price fixing. These issues have constituted the main focus for this thesis, which aims to examine vertical price fixing and the prohibition on anti-competitive agreements in Article 101(1) TFEU.   The policy view towards resale price maintenance in the European Union has been subject to great discussion and debate, and it has been argued that the approach towards the restriction is too strict. The legal framework for vertical agreements is now up for review and it is of interest to examine the appropriateness of the prohibition on resale price maintenance, especially in the light of two recent judgments. The thesis shows that there might be sufficient arguments for a change of approach towards resale price maintenance also in the European Union.

World international trade is moving towards more free trade, through globalization and trade liberalization. These moves are guided by trade theories which state that on an aggregated level, nations involved in free trade should benefit, and further that free trade is fair. However, in practice, contradictory views have been raised, stating that free trade may not necessarily be benefiting all participants equally. Rather, other nations, especially developing nations, have become worse-off after opening up their markets for free trade. On the other hand, many developed nations have benefited substantially from free trade. Among other factors, the difference in benefits is believed to have been influenced by the types of commodities being traded (where developing nations mainly trade in primary goods and developed nations in anufactured goods) and unequal power relations (some nations for example, the EU and the US, still adopt protectionism in their agricultural sector). In order to address market imbalances resulting from free trade, Fairtrade has arisen. Fairtrade aims to improve international trading conditions in order to benefit small-scale farmers and farm workers in the developing nations. The Fairtrade organization further claims that its principles are in line with sustainable development. However, Fairtrade suffers a credibility gap because there is a lack of independent research to support their claims. To date in South Africa, there is little research examining the claims of the Fairtrade organization. In order to contribute to the Fairtrade discussion in South Africa, this study has investigated the validity of Fairtrade‘s claims that it contributes towards sustainable development. The study utilised primary data, which was collected from ten commercial farms and two small-scale farmer cooperatives located in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces that are/were Fairtrade certified. The main reason for including commercial farmers and small-scale farmer cooperatives in the study was for comparing relative impacts in the two Fairtrade structures. The data was then analysed using a sustainable livelihoods framework, which was developed in the study. The study focussed on investigating the impact of Fairtrade tools, which are minimum prices, premiums, pre-financing and support for long-term relationships, on its intended beneficiaries. Minimum prices offered to producers cover production costs and are above market prices, and Fairtrade premiums are to be invested in developmental projects. Therefore, examining the influence of Fairtrade tools on individuals and communities provides an overview of how Fairtrade influences development. The results of the study show that sampled Fairtrade beneficiaries in South Africa have witnessed substantial positive changes as a result of Fairtrade. The Fairtrade initiative has managed to empower small-scale producers and farm workers, as well as leverage development opportunities for their wider communities. It has supported organizational development in the supply chain, facilitated investment in community development projects and in business-related training. Producers, both commercial and small-scale producers, managed to access a market that offers stable prices, and have gained from minimum prices. Furthermore, small-scale farmers have been allowed an opportunity to expand their business into export markets, and enjoyed an increase in incomes. Fairtrade benefits further trickle down to non-Fairtrade community members, in the form of employment creation and community development. Despite positive effects, Fairtrade producers faced challenges, including high Fairtrade administration costs and a small market for Fairtrade commodities. The study concludes that in the face of challenges, Fairtrade brings economic, social and environmental benefits, but as compared to economic and social development, the impact on environmental development is rather limited. Even though that is the case, Fairtrade offers valuable development opportunities to producers in South Africa.

Objetivou-se colocar em evidência as políticas realizadas na função repressiva do Sistema Brasileiro de Defesa da Concorrência (SBDC) sobre a fixação de preços de revenda (FPR) a partir da Lei n. 8.884/1994 (revogada pela Lei n. 12.529/2011). Do mesmo modo que a conduta poderia acarretar consequências perversas ao ambiente concorrencial, a falta de padrões claros para caracterizar a conduta como ilícita também pode ensejar efeitos deletérios ao ambiente institucional protegido pelo SBDC. O problema central da pesquisa está nos arranjos institucionais para promover a maximização da segurança jurídica no contexto da FPR no SBDC. Partiu-se da hipótese de que essas alternativas institucionais podem ser encontradas no próprio arcabouço normativo no SBDC, sem prejuízo de outras soluções estruturais. A partir dessa premissa, foi aplicado o método de análise de instituições para resolver um problema de arcabouço institucional aplicado. Inicialmente, o método abordou uma análise como um fim descritivo, objetivando identificar os elementos/particularidades do ambiente recortado para delimitar os contornos do problema da pesquisa. Para tanto, foram analisadas as decisões paradigmáticas do Cade sobre o tema. Ato contínuo, passou-se à função analítica aplicada do método, para formular um instrumental propositivo a respeito das possíveis falhas do arcabouço anteriormente estudado. Para tanto, a linha de raciocínio subjacente à tarefa foram os métodos dedutivo e hipotético-dedutivo, tomando como fontes a bibliografia especializada, além das estruturas balizadoras do ordenamento jurídico nacional. Concluiu-se que a estabilidade institucional é um dos fatores a ser considerado na promoção da defesa da concorrência, devendo ser garantida na intersecção entre as funções repressiva e educativa do SBDC, isto é, por meio de medidas educativas (medidas ex ante de conscientização) antes de medidas sancionadoras (ações punitivas ex post). Cabe ao Cade considerar os postulados da razoabilidade e proporcionalidade não apenas em suas atividades-fim, mas também nos reflexos de seus atos administrativos sobre o ambiente institucional, o que inclui o dever de proteção da segurança jurídica. Portanto, qualquer inovação institucional in pejus ao administrado aplicada pelo Cade, inclusive no caso de standards interpretativos, deverá ser considerada na perspectiva dos pilares da lei de processo administrativo como ponderação necessária, vedadas medidas contraditórias àquelas que se têm praticado no mesmo ambiente institucional. / The research encompasses the policies enforced by the Brazilian System of Competition Defence (SBDC) with regard to Resale Price Maintenance (RPM). While the conduct may produce a negative impact over competition - reducing the welfare of consumers -, the lack of predictability from the rulings enforced by SBDC on the subject might, likewise, produce deleterious outcomes to the institutional environment. The focus of this research rests on the premise of promoting a maximization of legal security in the context of RPM within SBDC. The initial hypothesis is that the institutional alternatives may be found within the very normative scope of SBDC, without prejudice of other structural solutions. Based on those premises we applied the Analysis of Institutions method in order to solve the issue within an institutional scope. Such method encompassed the analysis as a descriptive means, with the objective of identifying the elements/particularities of the given environment in order to define the contours from the object of the research. Subsequently, we moved on to the analytical method in order to instrumentally investigate possible flaws within the scope of what was previously studied. Thus, the subsequent lines of thought were both deductive and hypothetico-deductive. As a conclusion, the institutional stability is one of the factors to be considered in the promotion of competition defense, and it should be warranted within an intersection of repressive and educative functions from the SBDC, that is, through educative measures (ex ante) before repressive actions (punitive actions, ex post). It was concluded that institutional stability is one of the factors to be considered in promoting competition and should be guaranteed at the intersection between the repressive and educational functions of the SBDC, that is, through educational measures (ex ante measures) before punitive measures ex post. It will always be up to Cade to consider the claims with regard to reasonability and proportionality, not only with regard to the end activity but also with regard to the outcomes over the institutional environment - which also encompasses the duty of legal protection as well. Moreover, the notion of restrictions of competition \"by the object\" - as well as any institutional innovation contrary to the ones previously administered - should be considered from the perspective of the pillars of the Administrative Process Law.

This thesis deals with the selected vertical restraints on competition that occur in the sector of e-commerce, namely resale price maintenance, dual pricing and most-favoured-nation clauses. The thesis raises the research question what stance the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and particularly national competition authorities and courts of the Federal Republic of Germany, the French Republic, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Italian Republic, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Sweden take to the above-mentioned practices. The decisions of the authorities are considered in terms of their degree of strictness towards the vertical restraints in question. From a systematic point of view, the thesis is divided into eight chapters. Its subject, basic questions, aims and methods used are outlined in the introductory chapter. The second chapter, which deals with the concept of e-commerce, mainly provides the definition of the scope of the sector under consideration from a material point of view. The third chapter analyses the results of the European Commission's inquiry into the e-commerce sector, especially its conclusions on the functioning of the sector, its features and trends in this sector, particularly with regard to their...