Wettbewerbsfreiheit oder Effizienz? / Freedom for competition or efficiency?: Zur Zweisamkeit von Recht und Ökonomie im Bereich der Wettbewerbspolitik

Schmidtchen Dieter

ORDO. Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, 2008, vol. 59, issue 1, 143-184

Abstract: The adoption of a „more economic approach” to European competition law gave rise to the question whether the basic aim of the law is to protect freedom in the marketplace or to enhance efficiency. Drawing on property rights theory, this paper shows that the basic problem to be solved by competition law is of a „reciprocal nature” (Coase): Giving more freedom to one party (extending the scope of property rights of this party) necessarily means less freedom for another party. The design of property rights is a zero-sum game. It is shown that the concept of freedom is of no use in solving the dilemma, whereas the concept of efficiency works. Doubts regarding the applicability of the efficiency criterion are rejected.

Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1515/ordo-2008-0110

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