In this article, we first discuss traditional deterrence theory as applied to optimal criminal antitrust penalties. Then we evaluate both the U.S. and EU experience with ever-increasing corporate fines and the available empirical evidence on the deterrent value of cartel sanctions. In the next...

A substantial number of cartels in the European Union are detected and enforced by the national competition authorities (NCAs). The effectiveness of domestic enforcement has been subject to extensive review and debates, which have recently culminated and resulted in the proposal for the ECN+...

Efforts to avoid punishment are socially wasteful. Not only do they limit the deterrent effect of punishment but they may actually lead to the paradoxical result that more severe punishment for crime induces more crime. The law has therefore constantly attempted to deter avoidance efforts and...

With its Proposal for a directive to empower the competition authorities of the Member States to be more effective enforcers (“ECN Proposal”), the Commission has undertaken great effort to harmonise public enforcement throughout the Member States and has thereby entered uncharted waters....

The paper sought to explore through the lenses of the law, the procedures involved in instituting disciplinary actions like suspensions and expulsion of staff and students alike under the College and University system. Thereby, the earnest effort of the author was to examine the law and...

While there is no consensus concerning the legal and moral judgment towards prostitution, there is an overwhelming agreement on the need to fight sexual slavery. The paper shows the effect of clients' punishment in the market for commercial sex (the so called neo-abolitionism or nordic...

Since the financial crisis in 2007, banks have been hit by legal settlements from incidents related to the crisis. Over time, the frequency and the magnitude of these fines has only increased, thereby, implicating that financial misconduct is not an idiosyncratic risk that can be ‘spot...

The theoretical framework of the adequacy or otherwise of fine reductions under the EU and US Leniency Programmes has been explored widely. However, the characteristics of the reporting cartel members remain unexplained. This is the first paper to develop a model where cartel members are...

This chapter surveys the theory of the public enforcement of law—the use of governmental agents (regulators, inspectors, tax auditors, police, prosecutors) to detect and to sanction violators of legal rules. The theoretical core of the analysis addresses the following basic questions: Should...

This paper presents an empirical analysis of criminal antitrust prosecutions undertaken by the Department of Justice during the period 1955-1993. The authors report data on the number of criminal cases, the type of offense alleged, whether the defendants were individuals or firms, the position...