David J. Gerber

Bio: David J. Gerber is an academic researcher from Chicago-Kent College of Law. The author has contributed to research in topics: Competition law & Comparative law. The author has an hindex of 15, co-authored 100 publications receiving 1241 citations. Previous affiliations of David J. Gerber include Washington University in St. Louis & Illinois Institute of Technology.

Law and Competition in Twentieth Century Europe: Protecting Prometheus

Abstract: 1. Introduction 2. Freedom, Law and Competition: The Nineteenth Century as Prelude 3. Fin-de-Siecle Austria: Conceiving Competition Law 4. Germany Before the First World War: Shaping the Discourse 5. The Interwar Period: Competition Law Takes Root 6. The Postwar Decades: Competition Law and Administrative Policy 7. Ordoliberalism: A New Intellectual Framework for Competition Law 8. Competition Law and Germany's Social Market Economy 9. Competition Law and European Integration: The Competition Law of the European Union 10. 1986 and After: Competition Law, the Member States and European Union 11. Law, Regulation and Competition: Europe and the Market Bibliography Index

Constitutionalizing the Economy: German Neo-Liberalism, Competition Law and the 'New' Europe

Abstract: Despite its enormous importance in the evolution of competition law in Europe, ordoliberal thought — and German neo-liberal thought generally — has received little attention in the English-speaking world, and it remains all but unknown in the United States. Moreover, except in Germany, awareness of these ideas has been confined almost exclusively to economists, while lawyers and political scientists have seldom been exposed to them. Finally, there has been little modern study of the impact of these ideas on the development of European thought.In this article I address this critically important gap in our understanding of European thought and institutions. I seek to contribute to a fuller understanding of ordoliberal thought, particularly among non-German readers and among lawyers and policy analysts — to whom (together with economists) this body of thought has been addressed. In addition, I sketch the roles these ideas have played in the evolution of German and European legal thought and institutions, in general, and competition law, in particular.

Constitutionalizing the Economy: German Neo-liberalism, Competition Law and the "New" Europe

Abstract: Despite its enormous importance in the evolution of competition law in Europe, ordoliberal thought — and German neo-liberal thought generally — has received little attention in the English-speaking world, and it remains all but unknown in the United States. Moreover, except in Germany, awareness of these ideas has been confined almost exclusively to economists, while lawyers and political scientists have seldom been exposed to them. Finally, there has been little modern study of the impact of these ideas on the development of European thought.In this article I address this critically important gap in our understanding of European thought and institutions. I seek to contribute to a fuller understanding of ordoliberal thought, particularly among non-German readers and among lawyers and policy analysts — to whom (together with economists) this body of thought has been addressed. In addition, I sketch the roles these ideas have played in the evolution of German and European legal thought and institutions, in general, and competition law, in particular.

Global Competition: Law, Markets and Globalization

Abstract: 1. Law, Competition, and Global Markets PART I SOVEREIGNTY AS THE FRAMEWORK FOR GLOBAL COMPETITION 2. Global Competition Law: A Project Conceived and Abandoned 3. Sovereignty as a Solution: Extending the Reach of National Laws 4. Globalization and Competition Law: Conflict, Uncertainty, and the Promise of Convergence PART II DOMESTIC EXPERIENCE AND GLOBAL COMPETITION LAW 5. US Antitrust Law: Model and Lens 6. Competition Law in Europe: Market, Community, and Integration 7. Globalization, Development, and 'Other Players': Widening the Lens PART III COMPETITION LAW AS A TRANSNATIONAL PROJECT 8. Convergence as Strategy: Scope and Limits 9. Reconceiving Competition Law for Global Markets: Agreements, Commitments, and Pathways 10. Global Competition and Law: Trajectories and Promises

Neoliberalism: From New Liberal Philosophy to Anti-Liberal Slogan

Abstract: In recent years, neoliberalism has become an academic catchphrase. Yet, in contrast to other prominent social science concepts such as democracy, the meaning and proper usage of neoliberalism curiously have elicited little scholarly debate. Based on a content analysis of 148 journal articles published from 1990 to 2004, we document three potentially problematic aspects of neoliberalism’s use: the term is often undefined; it is employed unevenly across ideological divides; and it is used to characterize an excessively broad variety of phenomena. To explain these characteristics, we trace the genesis and evolution of the term neoliberalism throughout several decades of political economy debates. We show that neoliberalism has undergone a striking transformation, from a positive label coined by the German Freiberg School to denote a moderate renovation of classical liberalism, to a normatively negative term associated with radical economic reforms in Pinochet’s Chile. We then present an extension of W. B. Gallie’s framework for analyzing essentially contested concepts to explain why the meaning of neoliberalism is so rarely debated, in contrast to other normatively and politically charged social science terms. We conclude by proposing several ways that the term can regain substantive meaning as a “new liberalism” and be transformed into a more useful analytic tool.

The Credibility Crisis of Community Regulation

Abstract: The credibility crisis of Community regulation is symbolized by the recurrent food scares, and even more by official reactions such as the refusal of the German and French governments to abide by the decision of the Commission to lift the ban on exports of British beef. However, the crisis is not new, nor is it limited to food safety. Problems of regulatory credibility in the EC/EU arise at different levels. Some are rooted in the deep structure of the founding treaties, while other problems result from path-dependent aspects of the integration process, from institutional inertia, or from the pursuit of short-term advantages. This article is primarily concerned with the second group of problems, but a short discussion of the more fundamental issues seems useful as a reminder of the limits of what can be achieved by piecemeal institutional engineering. The article addresses two specific threats to credibility: the mismatch between the Community’s highly complex and differentiated regulatory tasks and the available administrative instruments; and the problem of credible commitment caused by the increasing level of politicization and parliamentarization of the Commission. The solution to both sets of problems, it is argued, may be found in a more far-reaching delegation of powers to independent European agencies embedded in transnational networks of national regulators and international organizations. Recent theoretical advances in the area of institutional design and procedural controls suggest that such networks could be made to satisfy all reasonable requirements of subsidiarity, accountability and efficiency.

The Joint-Decision Trap Revisited

Abstract: The original analysis appears as a basically valid – if simplified – account of the institutional conditions of political policy choices in the EU and their consequences. It needs to be complemented, however, by a similar account of non-political policymaking in the supranational-hierarchical mode of governance by the ECB or ECJ.

Chapter 10 Price discrimination

Abstract: 4. Summary As we indicated at the beginning of this chapter, price discrimination is a ubiquitous phenomenon. Nearly all firms with market power attempt to engage in some type of price discrimination. Thus, the analysis of the forms that price discrimination can take and the effects of price discrimination on economic welfare are a very important aspect of the study of industrial organization. In this survey we have seen some of the insights offered by the economic theory of price discrimination. However, much work remains to be done. For example, the study of marketing behavior at the retail level is still in its infancy. Retail firms use a variety of marketing devices — sales, coupons, matching offers, price promotions, and so on — that apparently enhance sales. The marketing literature has examined individual firm choices of such promotional tools. But what is the ultimate effect of such promotions on the structure and performance of market equilibrium? What kinds of marketing devices serve to enhance economic welfare and what kinds represent deadweight loss? One particularly interesting set of questions in this area that has received little attention concerns the computational costs involved in using complex forms of price discrimination. In the post-deregulation airline industry of the United States, airlines have taken to using very involved pricing schemes. Finding the most inexpensive feasible fight may involve a considerable expenditure of time and effort. What are the welfare consequences of this sort of price discrimination? Do firms appropriately take into account the computational externality imposed on their customers? Even in more prosaic case of public utilities, pricing schedules have become so complex that households often make the “wrong” choice of telephone service or electricity use. Questions of simplicity and ease-of-use have not hitherto played a role in the positive and normative analysis of price discrimination. Perhaps this will serve as a fruitful area of investigation in future studies of price discrimination.

The European Union: Economics and Policies

Abstract: 1. General Introduction. 2. History and Institutions of the EU. 3. The Basic Statistics of the EU. 4. The Theory of Economic Integration. 5. European Monetary Integration. 6. Measuring the Impact of Economic Integration. 7. The Economics of the Single Market. 8. Factor Mobility. 9. Competition and Industrial Policies with Emphasis on Competition Policy. 10. Competition and Industrial Policies with Emphasis on Industrial Policy. 11. The Common Agricultural Policy. 12. The Common Fisheries Policy. 13. The Common Transport Policy. 14. EC Energy Policy. 15. Environmental Policy. 16. EMS and EMU. 17. Fiscal Policy. 18. General Policy. 19. Cohesion & Regional Policy. 20. The Social Dimension. 21. External Trade Policy. 22. Development Policy. 23. EU Enlargement. 24. The Future of the EU. 25. Conclusion.