The Competition Law Scholars Forum (CLaSF) and the Department of Legal Studies of Università Bocconi of Milan
Invite contributions to a workshop on:
The Enforcement of Competition Law in Digital Markets
at Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy, on 22 April 2022
The Competition Law Scholars Forum (CLaSF) will be running its XXXVI workshop on 22 April 2022, at the Università Bocconi of Milan. The subject of the workshop will be the broad theme of “The Enforcement of competition law in digital markets”. We invite abstract paper proposals from researchers, scholars, practitioners and policy-makers in relation to any issue within this broad theme. We welcome theoretical, economics-driven, practice-based, or policy-focused papers, and we are interested in receiving abstracts for papers which may be focused on perspectives or experience at national, regional (eg EU), or international levels, or a combination. We are planning a live, in-person, F2F event only …
The aim of the workshop is to discuss the challenges that antitrust authorities and courts may face in enforcing competition law in digital markets and/or against digital firms. In addition, proposals are being discussed on both sides of the Atlantic for new rules to address some of these new challenges. For example, since it appears that pricing algorithms have made oligopolistic interdependence more likely, how might antitrust authorities and courts intervene? And who, specifically, should be held liable when a pricing algorithm applies a collusive price? Or, in the face of the “across market” power that so-called big tech companies have acquired, could the proposal to divide them up into many independent firms be a good remedy? Should other legislative or regulatory solutions be adopted? To what extent is it true that the advent of digital technologies has made anticompetitive conduct more difficult to detect and prove? What about blockchains and smart contracts as tools to facilitate and hide collusion? To address these and similar problems, should antitrust authorities and courts be given new tools (digital ones?), investigative powers, and expertise? Moreover, are specific rules required to boost private enforcement action against potential anti-competitive conduct in the digital realm?
The Workshop will consist of a mix of invited speakers and contributions chosen following this call for papers.
Any person interested in being considered on the basis of the call for papers at the workshop is asked to contact Professor Barry Rodger at barry.j.rodger@strath.ac.uk. An abstract is required of approximately 500-1,000 words, to be submitted by no later than 28 January 2022, and decisions on successful submissions will be taken by 11 February 2022. Submission of presentation/draft paper is also required a week prior to the workshop.
Papers presented at the conference can be submitted to the Competition Law Review editorial board with a view to being published in the Review. Note that the Review is a fully refereed scholarly law journal: submission does not guarantee publication.