Comparative Law and Economics in the Field of Modern Competition Law

Abstract

This study provides an overview of the relationship between comparative law analysis and the economic analysis
of law in competition law and offers some perspectives for the future. In the United States, it has been argued
that market power has expanded since deregulation was implemented and that this expansion has not been
accompanied by long-term improvement in consumer welfare. The reasons for this are the Chicago School's
reform of antitrust laws and changes in the technological environment of the economy. There is a certain
convergence in the institutional and enforcement landscape of competition law today. The paper then puts forth
the argument of the increasing trend of market power in today's economy from a bird's eye view and presents
an alternative view to empirical industrial organisation theory. The dominant method in law and economics
today is the latter, which has been applied as comparative law and economics. Based on this, I point out that
comparative law and economics require a discussion of the nature of competition law and discuss the importance
of returning to the basics of empirical industrial organisation.