An Economic and Legal Perspective on the Abuse of Dominant Position
16 Pages Posted: 3 Apr 2011
Date Written: January 6, 2011
Abstract
It is widely accepted today that Competition Law, in general, should be used by the authorities to ensure the pursuance of social economic welfare. Many different aspects of the commercial world have been scrutinised by Law, but few fields have evolved as much or for that matter provoked as much turmoil and debate than Competition Law.
This paper focuses on the Article 102, which describes the activities prohibited to dominant undertakers. It first covers the main theories on the impact of companies being in dominant positions, and analyses the main way in which monopolies can harm the market. Then, it goes through the Article 102 through a few reflexions on its structure and intent. After this, the paper concentrates on the criteria used to assess dominance and abuse, and comments on the “Special Responsibility” that dominant companies endure.
Finally, the paper discusses the fairness of article 102 toward dominant companies.
Keywords: dominant, law, competition, abuse, 102, TFEU, article commercial, undertakers, Microsoft, special, responsibility, Europe, Eropean
JEL Classification: K21
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation