Walter Eucken and Ordoliberalism: An Introduction from a Consumer Welfare Perspective
Competition Policy International, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2006
22 Pages Posted: 8 Apr 2010
Date Written: 2006
Abstract
This article serves two purposes, (i) to introduce “The Comparative Order and its Implementation,” a seminal article published in 1949 by Walter Eucken, ordoliberalism’s, or the “Freiburg School’s,” most prominent scholar, and (ii) to compare some ordoliberalist competition policy recommenda-tions to those of a consumer welfare standard. The article provides an overview of the key concepts of ordoliberalism (such as “competitive order,” “economic constitution” and “Ordnungspolitik”) and outlines its implications for competition policy. It provides examples for the ordoliberal legacy in German and European competition policy, such as, inter alia, the market share thresholds for dominance, and the control of exploitative abuses such as excessive pricing. Finally, the article gives a critique of ordoliberalism from a consumer welfare perspective, and looks, among other things, at the implications of ordoliberalist policies for innovation and dynamic competition, the roots of the structureconduct-performance paradigm, and the classification of certain forms of unilateral behavior (e.g., tying).
Keywords: Ordoliberalism, Ordoliberalismus, Ordnungspolitik, Eucken, Freiburg School, Freiburger Schul, consumer welfare standard
JEL Classification: K21, L40
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
Intellectual Property Rights and Standard-Setting Organizations
-
Patent Holdup and Royalty Stacking
By Mark A. Lemley and Carl Shapiro
-
Reply: Patent Holdup and Royalty Stacking
By Mark A. Lemley and Carl Shapiro
-
Patents and the Performance of Voluntary Standard Setting Organizations
By Marc Rysman and Timothy Simcoe
-
The Rules of Standard Setting Organizations: An Empirical Analysis
By Benjamin Chiao, Jean Tirole, ...
-
The Rules of Standard Setting Organizations: An Empirical Analysis
By Benjamin Chiao, Jean Tirole, ...
-
The Rules of Standard Setting Organizations: An Empirical Analysis
By Benjamin Chiao, Josh Lerner, ...
-
A Model of Forum Shopping, with Special Reference to Standard Setting Organizations
By Jean Tirole and Josh Lerner
-
A Model of Forum Shopping, with Special Reference to Standard Setting Organizations
By Jean Tirole and Josh Lerner
-
To Join or Not to Join: Examining Patent Pool Participation and Rent Sharing Rules
By Anne Layne-farrar and Josh Lerner