| By: |
Silvi Berger (Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia);
Morten Hviid (Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia) |
| Abstract: |
The key question for this paper is by whom and with what restrictions the
price of books should be set. In the past, public cultural policy has in some
jurisdictions favoured limiting competition at the retail level by mandating a
fixed book price system, where prices are the same everywhere. Digitalisation
has enabled some competition authorities to challenge this practice. This has
left us with a situation where very different rules apply to the book market
in different jurisdictions and where the initial question of who sets prices
faced with what restrictions is given a very different answer across EU member
states. This paper uses recent antitrust cases to highlight the tension over
who should have the price setting power in the market for books. |
| Keywords: |
Retail Price MFN, Across Platform Parity Agreements, price guarantees, agency models |
| JEL: |
D22 D4 L82 |
| Date: |
2019–10–01 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uea:ueaccp:2019_07&r=all |