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on Law and Economics |
| By: | Budzinski, Oliver |
| Abstract: | Commercial sports belong to the biggest entertainment industries in the world and, at the same time, are regularly raising antitrust concerns. This is partly due to the omnipresence of powerful market-internal regulators. These sport governing bodies set, implement, and enforce the rules and additionally engage in commercial activities. In a series of four judgments within less than a year, the European Court of Justice found (potential) antitrust violations in cases of deterring market entry, distorting competition, and exploiting players. This contribution adds economic comments to the predominantly legal literature on these judgements. It concludes that despite important steps in the right direction, more antitrust enforcement is necessary to protect competition in this unique entertainment industry vis-à-vis the presence of market-internal, private regulators. Next to limiting their scope (where the court provided progress), also the incentives for anticompetitive conduct must be addressed. |
| Keywords: | sport markets, sport governance, competition policy, antitrust, sports associations, institutions, market-internal regulators, European Court of Justice, competition economics, sports economics |
| JEL: | K21 L40 L50 L83 Z20 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:tuiedp:335047 |
| By: | Bougette, Patrice; Budzinski, Oliver; Marty, Frédéric |
| Abstract: | Digital platforms, ecosystems, and R&D-intensive sectors pose distinctive challenges for merger control. In these fast-evolving markets, shaped by technological change and shifting competitive dynamics, traditional ex-ante reviews often fall short in anticipating long-term outcomes. This paper proposes a multi-step merger control model that includes a mechanism for remedy revision, allowing authorities to adjust behavioral commitments during their implementation. By embedding structured flexibility into merger decisions, our approach enables remedies to evolve in response to market reconfigurations, strategic conduct, or regulatory insights. The framework aims to ensure that remedies remain proportionate, effective, and legally predictable. By bridging ex-ante assessment and ex-post adaptation, it offers a policy instrument better suited to the uncertainties of dynamic competition. |
| Keywords: | Merger control, merger remedies, dynamic competition, competition policy uncertainties, innovation, digital markets, mergers & acquisitions, merger waves |
| JEL: | K21 L12 L13 L41 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:tuiedp:335044 |
| By: | Stöhr, Annika; Budzinski, Oliver |
| Abstract: | State-owned firms from third countries play an increasingly significant role in international mergers and acquisitions, raising concerns about distortions of competition. These distortions arise from state-backed financial advantages, preferential treatment, and industrial policy objectives, potentially undermining market competition. This paper categorises different forms of competitive distortions, focusing on acquisitions financed by foreign state resources. Through an analysis of German and EU merger control cases (2012-2023), we assess the extent of this phenomenon and the treatment of such transactions by the respective competition authorities. While direct state involvement remains rare, it is prevalent in strategic industries such as energy and transport. We discuss potential policy responses, including expanded notification requirements, revised theories of harm, and stricter intervention criteria. However, we caution against excessive regulatory overreach that could lead to protectionist distortions. Our findings advocate for a nuanced approach to merger control that ensures competitive neutrality while safeguarding against state-driven market distortions. |
| Keywords: | competition policy, state-owned enterprises, merger control, foreign subsidies, EU competition law |
| JEL: | K21 L40 L44 L50 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:tuiedp:335042 |
| By: | Hey, Florian; Zombek, Max |
| Abstract: | The automotive industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation driven by digitization, enabling original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to exert increasing control over vehicle functions, data, and - consequently - aftersales markets. Despite high relevance for consumers, regulatory scrutiny remains limited. This paper examines whether these developments constitute digital gatekeeping in a functional sense, and whether they justify increased regulatory attention. We show that OEMs' digital strategiesreinforce their dominance in secondary markets, particularly repair and maintenance. We assess the current European regulatory framework, focusing on the European Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation (MVBER), and argue that it has not kept pace with the realities of software-defined vehicles. The planned MVBER review provides an opportunity to reassess legacy privileges and adapt competition rules to the digital age. We discuss potential reforms, including improved data access, stronger interoperability standards, and a broader definition of aftermarket components. We also examine supplementary measures such as a Right to Repair regime and self-regulation. Our analysis concludes that OEMs increasingly act as digital gatekeepers and that existing frameworks inadequately address the resulting risks. Regulatory recalibration is needed to safeguard innovation, consumer welfare, and long-term market openness. |
| Keywords: | aftermarket, antitrust, car data, competition policy, connected car, data governance, digital ecosystems, Digital Markets Act (DMA), extended vehicle, gatekeeping, interoperability, Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation (MVBER), non-discriminatory terms, Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), rent seeking, Right to Repair, software defined vehicle |
| JEL: | D72 K21 L40 L42 L50 L51 L62 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:tuiedp:335043 |
| By: | Júlia Sbroglio Rizzotto (University of São Paulo); Shoshana Grossbard (San Diego State University); Marco Túlio A. França (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates how geographic access to specialized Women’s Police Station (WPS) relates to whether episodes of violence against women are classified as intimate partner violence (IPV) in Brazil’s health system records. Using national administrative notifications (2010–2019) geocoded to health facilities and linked to WPS locations, we analyze 227, 172 women aged 18– 59 who identified a male perpetrator. Logistic regressions assess IPV correlates, with results presented as descriptive associations. Three sets of findings stand out. First, and most importantly, distance from a WPS and IPV are related and the association between distance to the nearest WPS and IPV classification varies by region: in the South and Midwest, the odds of IPV classification decline with distance, while in parts of the North and Northeast they rise with distance. Our uncovering that national averages conceal substantial geographic variation in access and reporting is a novel finding that has policy-relevant implications. Second, situational markers strongly predict IPV classification: episodes at the victim's residence, recurrent cases, and incidents involving an intoxicated perpetrator are much more likely to be classified as IPV, whereas weekday and daylight reports show lower odds. Third, violence concentrates among younger, Black, and less-educated women, while state capital cases are less likely classified as IPV, reflecting different urban service pathways. These findings indicate that specialized policing infrastructure correlates with health reporting patterns in complex ways. Aligning health services with policing infrastructure, particularly addressing alcohol-related cases and regional coverage gaps, may contribute to reducing violence against women. |
| Keywords: | aggression, logistic regression, health |
| JEL: | D63 H75 J12 K42 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2026-001 |
| By: | Keener, Steven; Finn, John; Baird, Andrew F. |
| Abstract: | In November 2025, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia unsealed a spreadsheet containing the locations of 614 automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras currently in use in Hampton Roads, Virginia. ALPR cameras are an emergent form of networked surveillance infrastructure that capture images of every vehicle that passes by, generate a “vehicle fingerprint, ” and store those data in databases searchable by law enforcement, typically without warrants or court orders for access. The release of these locational data provides a rare opportunity to examine the opaque geography of contemporary surveillance and to assess whether ALPR camera deployment reproduces the same racialized and classed patterns long associated with policing and state surveillance in the United States. In this article, we use geographic information systems (GIS) and descriptive statistical analysis to map the distribution of 614 Flock Safety ALPR cameras in relation to racial and poverty profiles of the neighborhoods where the cameras are located. Our findings show that ALPR camera deployment is deeply and systematically racialized and economically stratified, with predominantly Black and high-poverty neighborhoods bearing a disproportionate share of ALPR surveillance infrastructure across Hampton Roads. We argue that these patterns do not reflect isolated siting decisions, but rather are the result of broader structural dynamics, including the privatization of surveillance infrastructure, weak democratic oversight, and the normalization of seemingly objective, tech-washed policing. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for public policy, civil liberties, democratic accountability, and Fourth Amendment protections. |
| Date: | 2026–01–13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:5ckgv_v1 |
| By: | Stöhr, Annika; Budzinski, Oliver |
| Abstract: | Identifying the boundaries of a market belongs to the important practices in most areas of antitrust and competition policy. While they are established practices for market definition and delineation, dynamic processes of competition and the new phenomenon of (digital) ecosystems of markets provide new challenges: market boundaries become (i) inherently dynamic and subject to evolutionary change, as well as (ii) subject to the deliberate design of powerful companies. Therefore, the prediction of post-event effects - e.g., competitive effects of a merger or such of an abuse of market power - may fail if they rely on a static or stationary market definition. If market boundaries change inherently through dynamic market competition, identifying these boundaries and their evolution becomes an integral part of a dynamic approach to competition policy - and not just preparatory work. Furthermore, if companies enjoying systemic market power in ecosystems (like e.g., cross-market power) and, thus, the power to shape market boundaries and deliberately change (previous) market delineations, then the identification of market boundaries cannot be viewed independent of the exploitation of market power. Both dynamics of market boundaries require a strongly different approach to market definition than the one of the Commission's 2024 Market Definition Note. |
| Keywords: | dynamic market boundaries, market definition, market delineation, antitrust, competition policy, industrial economics, dynamic competition, digital ecosystems, merger control, systemic market power, cross-market power |
| JEL: | D40 K21 L10 L40 L86 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:tuiedp:335040 |
| By: | Daniel-Stefan Paraschiv (Constantin Brâncoveanu University of Pitesti, Romania) |
| Abstract: | Public international law, like other legal systems, has the primary role to ensure the social international order, mainly by formulating legal rules that must be complied with by the subjects to whom they apply and by putting in place binding rules penalizing violations, named in the doctrine sanctioning legal norms or penalties, which can be enforced in the eventual cases of failure to abide by the established compliance norms. However, because not all states are parties to or have ratified the instruments that provide for public international law sanctions, or do not agree to their application in certain circumstances, such sanctions cannot be enforced against certain states or other entities. In view of this, a more efficient involvement of all states is necessary for the implementation and application of international regulations that should ensure the establishment of more equitable relationships among public international law entities. This would also ensure more stability in international relations and better cooperation, by combining the efforts of all the states with the aim to prevent and eliminate major conflicts, acts of terrorism, and international crime in general, which would be impossible to take place as they do now, without them being supported or tolerated by certain states. |
| Keywords: | Sanctions, Public International Law, Countermeasures, International Crimes |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:raiswp:0616 |
| By: | Zack Taylor; Craig Mutter; Joseph Lyons; Alec Dobson (University of Toronto) |
| Abstract: | Local government is a vital part of Canada’s multi-level democracy. It provides a voice for the needs, desires, and aspirations of local communities and shapes the environments in which we live. Amidst growing calls for greater local autonomy and expanded local powers and resources, this paper contributes a comparative overview of municipal law in Canada’s ten provinces and three territories. We find that Canadian municipal law has experienced a quiet evolution over the past 40 years. The scope of municipal legal authority has expanded considerably as provinces and territories have revised their general municipal acts and adopted special laws for major cities. While the overall trend has been toward more permissive authority and the recognition of municipalities as democratic, accountable, and responsible governments, there are significant variations, both in law and in practice, among and within provinces and territories. We conclude that the practical potential of this wave of legislative reform is not fully known and may be unrealized, and requires further research. |
| Keywords: | municipal governance, municipal powers, Canada, municipal law, intergovernmental relations |
| JEL: | H11 H70 H77 K11 K15 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mfg:wpaper:74 |
| By: | Pierre Cahuc (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, IZA - Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit - Institute of Labor Economics, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research); Stéphane Carcillo (OCDE / OECD - Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques = Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Bérengère Patault (UvA - Universiteit van Amsterdam = University of Amsterdam); Flavien Moreau (International Monetary Fund (IMF)) |
| Abstract: | This paper documents the existence of judge-specific differences on granting compensation for wrongful dismissal and shows that their consequences are different for small low-performing firms than for other firms. Pro-worker judge bias reduces job creation for all firms, increases the destruction of permanent jobs in small and low-performing firms but reduces it in large high-performing firms. Pro-worker bias reduces employment and survival for small and low-performing firms but has no significant effects on these outcomes for the other firms. The probability that permanent incumbent workers keep their job in firms judged by a pro-worker judge increases in large and high-performing firms, while it decreases in small, poorly performing firms. |
| Keywords: | Employment, Firm survival, Judge bias, Dismissal compensation |
| Date: | 2024–06–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05446842 |
| By: | Budzinski, Oliver; Stöhr, Annika |
| Abstract: | Since Mario Draghi's 2024 report on "The Future of European Competitiveness", identifying European (i) weaknesses in global innovation and, consequently, in global market impact, as well as (ii) regulatory overburden, the term competitiveness has been propelled into massive popularity. For instance, competitiveness has been established as a core guiding principle for the work of the European Commission (the competitiveness compass as a new roadmap for EU economic policy. But what does competitiveness exactly mean and how does it relate to competition? This contribution addresses possible concepts of competitiveness and their relationship with concepts of competition. Furthermore, we compare current narratives surrounding the competition-competitiveness interrelation with stylized academic empirical evidence. We conclude that (i) it should always be explicitly specified which notion and concept of the term competitiveness is referred to, (ii) effective competitiveness policies must be competition-based (i.e., promote competitiveness through competition), (iii) a selective firmor industry-focused competitiveness policy is likely to decrease welfare in a world where lobbyism, rent-seeking, and imperfect political incentives are prevalent, (iv) narratives that we have experienced a specifically competition-centric era during the last decades are not supported by scientific findings, and (v) competition policy and merger control should be reinvigorated to promote public interest goals such as social welfare and economic resilience. |
| Keywords: | competitiveness, competition, antitrust, industrial policy, resilience, lobbyism, locational competition, innovation, rent-seeking |
| JEL: | L40 L50 L52 F13 K21 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:tuiedp:335048 |
| By: | Budzinski, Oliver; Stöhr, Annika |
| Abstract: | Algorithm- and data-based recommendation systems (DARS) have become a central component of the digital economy, shaping how users access, evaluate, and consume information and goods. These systems encompass both search rankings tailored to estimated user preferences and direct recommendations such as "watch next" or "users also bought". Their growing influence has prompted regulatory interest worldwide, with debates centering on their economic, social, and cultural implications. Drawing on attention economics and behavioral insights, the paper highlights the functional necessity of pre-selection mechanisms in information-overload environments. Personalized DARS improve preference matching, expand the diversity of content receiving attention, and tend to intensify competition - particularly in comparison to one-size-fits-all or editorially curated systems. However, DARS also carry significant risks: they may reinforce biases through self-preferencing, amplify echo chambers, limit exposure to diverse viewpoints, and raise privacy concerns due to their reliance on granular behavioral data. Based on these challenges, this paper provides a comparative institutional analysis of regulatory options for DARS, evaluated through a modern, economicsbased framework. It examines regulatory effects across three key dimensions: (i) preference fit, (ii) information transparency, and (iii) competition intensity. The paper evaluates a range of regulatory strategies, such as transparency obligations, interoperability obligations, randomized rankings, editorial curation, and structural interventions. While each option addresses specific risks, the analysis shows that more interventionist regimes often come at the cost of reduced competition and diminished content diversity. The paper concludes that effective regulation should avoid substituting personalized DARS altogether and instead focus on addressing core pitfalls - particularly those arising from vertical integration and opacity - without eroding the systems' welfare-enhancing functions. |
| Keywords: | recommender systems, attention economics, institutional economics, regulation, competition, algorithms, data, digital economy, privacy |
| JEL: | B52 D02 D80 K20 L51 L81 L82 L86 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:tuiedp:335046 |
| By: | Yang Xiao |
| Abstract: | Liability sharing and staffing jointly determine service quality in AI-assisted online medical consultation, yet their interaction is rarely examined in an integrated framework linking contracts to congestion via physician responses. This paper develops a Stackelberg queueing model where the platform selects a liability share and a staffing level while physicians choose between AI-assisted and independent diagnostic modes. Physician mode choice exhibits a threshold structure, with the critical liability share decreasing in loss severity and increasing in the effort cost of independent diagnosis. Optimal platform policy sets liability below this threshold to trade off risk transfer against compliance costs, revealing that liability sharing and staffing function as substitute safety mechanisms. Higher congestion or staffing costs tilt optimal policy toward AI-assisted operation, whereas elevated loss severity shifts the preferred regime toward independent diagnosis. The welfare gap between platform and social optima widens with loss severity, suggesting greater scope for incentive alignment in high-stakes settings. By endogenizing physician mode choice within a congested service system, this study clarifies how liability design propagates through queueing dynamics, offering guidance for calibrating contracts and capacity in AI-assisted medical consultation. |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2601.12817 |