Linked-In: Antitrust and the Virtues of a Virtual Network
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Description
If networking is the new world order1, antitrust law is a provocative example. Antitrust law is part of a genre. The genre is economic law that is national in origin, that has been adopted in scores of countries, and that addresses conduct that increasingly transcends national borders. Within this genre, cooperation is needed to carry out tasks that lie at the core of the law; commonality in rules, standards and modes of analysis is desirable to facilitate a linked world system and to soften clashes; and rules of priority and modes for respect are needed to intermediate differences. Moreover, nations that have recently adopted the law, and especially developing countries, appreciate guidance from more experienced jurisdictions, and the guidance itself is part of a feedback loop that generates soft norms. Finally, the area of law has been resistant to becoming international law. In this genre, networking fills a real need in a globalized world. This article contains four parts. Part one explores the internationalization of markets and the stalled attempt to achieve an international law of antitrust. Part two explores the rise of the International Competition Network (ICN), which is a unique, virtual network of competition law officials. Part three explores the functioning of the ICN, its benefits and its limitations. Part four contains an assessment and conclusions. This article argues that the ICN provides an outstanding example of a vehicle for interaction and cross-fertilization among national authorities, producing some convergences of law, procedures and policy; increasing knowledge and understanding; and facilitating mentoring and other collaborative relationships. It observes that, in spite of great efforts of inclusiveness, the ICN agenda is principally set and the norms principally forged by the developed world, although consensus when reached involves give-and-take on all sides. The article explores whether the ICN, in spite of its founding concept of “no power,” has power deriving from the soft-norm formation that it generates. The article ends with an assessment of the ICN as it is and might be. It concludes that the ICN has exceeded expectations of effectiveness to accomplish its circumscribed mission and that it can be credited with a high degree of legitimacy. By its nature, it is not sufficient (and not intended) to accomplish tasks that could create more nearly seamless antitrust governance. For the future: The ICN has surprisingly strong (virtual) roots; but it needs continued leadership and new momentum, some of which can be supplied by mining the depths of controversial issues that it has thus far chosen to avoid.
Source Publication
The International Competition Network at Ten: Origins, Accomplishments and Aspirations
Source Editors/Authors
Paul Lugard
Publication Date
2011
Recommended Citation
Fox, Eleanor M., "Linked-In: Antitrust and the Virtues of a Virtual Network" (2011). Faculty Chapters. 1231.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/1231
