Kovacic, William E. --- "Competition Policy and Cartels: The Design of Remedies" [2006] ELECD 449; in Cseres, J. Katalin; Schinkel, Pieter Maarten; Vogelaar, O.W. Floris (eds), "Criminalization of Competition Law Enforcement" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006)

Book Title: Criminalization of Competition Law Enforcement

Editor(s): Cseres, J. Katalin; Schinkel, Pieter Maarten; Vogelaar, O.W. Floris

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845426088

Section: Chapter 3

Section Title: Competition Policy and Cartels: The Design of Remedies

Author(s): Kovacic, William E.

Number of pages: 19

Extract:

3. Competition policy and cartels:
the design of remedies
William E. Kovacic1

1 INTRODUCTION

The impact of a competition law, or any other statute, depends on how its
commands are implemented. The choice of measures to enforce the law
is just as significant as the definition of what the law forbids. In deciding
whether to obey a competition law, affected parties ordinarily ask what will
happen if they transgress. Knowing how the law is likely to detect, prosecute,
and punish wrongdoers is fundamental to answering the question.
This chapter examines what jurisdictions should consider in designing
remedies for violations of competition laws that forbid cartels. It analyses
the choice of sanctions as one of several adjustments to an enforcement
mechanism that can elicit greater compliance with a law's anti-cartel
provisions. The chapter discusses issues of sequencing that a jurisdiction
should address when it augments sanctions, particularly when it decides
to treat antitrust offences as crimes. The chapter uses the experience of
anti-cartel policy in the United States to underscore the strong relationship
between enhancements in methods for detecting cartels and the strengthening
of sanctions.
One of the chapter's central themes is that the sources of insight for
the proper development of a competition policy program come from
several disciplines ­ notably from history and political science as well as
from the fields of economics and law that so often figure in discussions
about antitrust issues. The creation of criminal sanctions as an element of
competition policy can ...