Idea Merchants and Paradigm Peddlers in Global Antitrust

Posted by Social Science Research Network

Idea Merchants and Paradigm Peddlers in Global Antitrust Mel Marquis (European University Institute)

Abstract: In the global field of antitrust law, policy paradigms are pushed and pulled by forces analogous to those of the market. Policy entrepreneurs (typically competition law agencies) operate in a setting where, notwithstanding various cooperative platforms, competition and rivalry occur and manifest themselves in a number of dimensions. This article is thus premised on the notion that competition enforcers across jurisdictions compete among themselves on a global ‘market’. The primary competitive relationship explored and discussed is that between enforcers in the United States and enforcers in the European Union, but the article also accounts for antitrust’s global expansion, with the multiplication of antitrust jurisdictions and thus new entrants around the world.