The globalization of trade has made it necessary to establish an international network of competition laws. Accordingly, more than a hundred jurisdictions have now introduced some kind of competition law provisions into their national legislation. However, it is notorious that enforcement in many countries is weak, erratic, hampered, or sometimes even nonexistent. This comparative study sheds clear light on how competition law provisions are enforced (or are supposed to be enforced) in over ninety jurisdictions worldwide, providing valuable knowledge about both the obstacles that competition authorities face and the characteristics that seem to determine the success of certain competition law systems. Studying jurisdictions with different legal traditions and different levels of economic development, the book discusses such issues and topics as the following:
- origins and proliferation of competition law;
- economic approach to competition law enforcement;
- optimal enforcement of competition law;
- public competition law enforcement;
- private competition law enforcement;
- international enforcement of competition law;
- self-enforcement and antitrust compliance;
- objectives of competition law enforcement;
- multilateral anti-competitive agreements;
- unilateral anti-competitive conduct;
- institutional design of competition law;
- powers of investigation of competition authorities;
- private antitrust litigation;
- legal forum for private antitrust claims;
- standing to bring a private action for breach of competition law;
- remedies for private antitrust litigation;
- economic models for calculation of damages;
- interaction between public and private enforcement and concurrent proceedings;
- arbitration of competition law disputes;
- antitrust compliance programs;
- drivers of compliance and noncompliance; and
- interaction between compliance programs and competition law enforcement.
In addition to legislation and case law at all levels, the book draws on the websites of competition authorities and the extensive legal literature in the field. Comprehensive in scope, this book provides interested practitioners, policymakers, and academics with ample description of the variety of competition law regimes, their institutions, and their types of enforcement. An invaluable feature is its best-practice guidance on the experience of countries that have succeeded in building effective competition law regimes.