Margin Squeeze – Where Competition Law and Sector Regulation Compete

Posted by Social Science Research Network

Margin Squeeze – Where Competition Law and Sector Regulation Compete

By Friso Bostoen (KU Leuven)

Abstract:     This paper discusses abusive pricing practices by dominant undertakings. It starts with an overview of the different ways an undertaking can abuse its dominant position through pricing (chapter 2). The focus of this work is on margin squeeze. We start by defining margin squeeze (chapter 3), and then look at how margin squeeze is assessed (chapter 4 and 5). It will be examined why some undertakings appear to be more susceptible to this abuse than others (chapter 6). The last part of this paper investigates the place of margin squeeze in the European legislative framework. It first considers which kind of competition law abuse margin squeeze could be and currently is (chapter 7), and then focuses on the interaction of this competition law approach with the regulatory approach (chapter 8).