[eng] This article focuses on decentralized implementation of European Union competition policy. Delegating the control of interfirm agreements makes it possible to benefit from better local information. However , because of conflicts of interest, decisions taken may not be in line with overall...

We analyze the competitive effects of upfront payments made by manufacturers to retailersin a contracting situation where rival retailers offer contracts to a manufacturer. In contrast toBernheim and Whinston (1985, 1998), who study the situation in which competing manufacturersoffer contracts...

The paper presents recent advances in the analysis of successive oligopolies characterized by "interlocking relationships", where competing upstream suppliers deal with the same set of competing downstream partners. We first highlight the extent to which interlocking relationships alter...

The ''portfolio effect theory'' developed by the European Commission in merger control is at the center of a fierce international row with the US authorities who believe that this theory has no economic foundations. This paper aims to provide a counter-argument and shows that full-line forcing...

A supplier is known to be subject to opportunism when contracting secretly with downstream competitors, particularly when downstream firms have "passive beliefs." We stress that in many situations, an equilibrium with passive beliefs may not exist and passive beliefs appear less plausible than...

Council Regulation (EC) 1/2003 came into force on the 1st of May 2004 replacing themandatory notification of agreements between firms by a regime of ex post monitoring.This paper provides a theoretical justification for this shift based on the competitionauthority’s accuracy of judgement. We...

A supplier is known to be subject to opportunism when contracting secretly with downstream competitors, particularly when downstream firms have "passive beliefs.'' We stress that in many situations, an equilibrium with passive beliefs may not exist and passive beliefs appear less plausible than...