International Competition Law
Module code: LW7092
The aim of the module is to provide a good understanding of the basic principles and goals of competition/antitrust law. We will start with an economic analysis of competition law, focusing on key concepts like market definition, allocative and productive efficiency, monopoly consumer welfare etc. We will then examine the three broad areas of competition - anticompetitive agreements, abuse of dominance, and merger control - relying mostly on how these terms are understood (both in theory and practice) in EU competition law, the most transplanted competition legislation in the world. Given that the module is intended to be international in its scope, we will also examine some comparative aspects between EU and US competition legislation in relation to these broad areas. Developing countries are also not left out in our analysis. Bearing in mind that their markets are different from that of developed countries, we will consider specifically how they have balanced economic efficiency - the chief goal of competition - with other objectives that may be more suited to their interests. We will end our discussions by appraising how competition law has responded to problematic global issues like big data and artificial intelligence.