Resale Price Maintenance (RPM) can be either pro competitive, by improving efficiency or facilitating entry, or anti-competitive, by blocking entry, restoring monopoly profits, dampening competition or facilitating collusion. The market context is the key element in determining the likely effect of RPM. We discuss the market context of three United Kingdom RPM cases: Toys, Football kits and Books. While advocating for treatment of RPM as presumptively anti-competitive we support the ability to rebut this presumption by demonstrating that the market context could not support any plausible theory of harm. This process is translated into prioritisation policies for National Competition Authorities aimed at minimising type I and type II policy errors
Three cases in search of a theory: Resale Price Maintenance in the UK
GIOVANNETTI, Emanuele;
2009-01-01
Abstract
Resale Price Maintenance (RPM) can be either pro competitive, by improving efficiency or facilitating entry, or anti-competitive, by blocking entry, restoring monopoly profits, dampening competition or facilitating collusion. The market context is the key element in determining the likely effect of RPM. We discuss the market context of three United Kingdom RPM cases: Toys, Football kits and Books. While advocating for treatment of RPM as presumptively anti-competitive we support the ability to rebut this presumption by demonstrating that the market context could not support any plausible theory of harm. This process is translated into prioritisation policies for National Competition Authorities aimed at minimising type I and type II policy errorsI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.