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William T. Stanbury, "Competition Policy in Canada: Evolution, Effectiveness and the Changing Context of Competition" As background to our magazine on competition policy, the author discusses a number of issues, including: the basic purpose of competition policy; the evolution of competition policy in Canada; the effectiveness of Canadian competition policy; how competition has changed and the implications of thsoe changes for competition policy. Thomas W. Ross, "On Letting Competitors Cooperate" Strategic alliances are on the rise in the business world and Canada's competition law is ill-prepared. The author proposes reforms incorporating a more flexible approach toward agreements which promise efficiency gains for society. Jeffrey Church and Roger Ware, "Trade-dress and Pharmaceuticals: Efficiency, Competition and Intellectual Property Rights" In a recent trade-mark case, a group of generic drug manufacturers were acquitted of passing off" their generic form of Prozac by producing it in the same size, shape and colour capsules as the original patent holder. The authors argue, from an economic standpoint, that trade dress of prescription pharmaceuticals should not be protected as intellectual property. Trade dress creates standardization benefits for consumers and there is a close analogy with the user interfaces for computer products, which have been determined non-protectable in several important US copyright cases. If trade-mark protection is established in future decisions, we advocate use of the Competition Act to restore competition in particularly egregious cases. Kent Roach and Michael J. Trebilcock, "Private Enforcement of Competition Laws" The authors make the case for allowing private parties direct access to the Competition Tribunal with respect to reviewable practises. Victims of practices found to be anti-competitive by the Tribunal ought to receive compensation for their injuries as well as injunctive relief to prevent future injury. The authors identify some of the issues that would need to be resolved in order to design a process that maximizes the potential of private actions to compensate and regulate while minimizing certain social costs of private enforcement, such as strategic behaviour at odds with the goals of competition law. Donald McFetridge, "Efficiency Considerations in the Competition Act: Where Now?" The Competition Act was intended to promote economic efficiency. Usually, competition and efficiency go hand in hand but occasionally it is necessary to accept a lessening of competition in order to increase efficiency. The Competition Act provides for this but the effectiveness of this provision has been cast into doubt as a consequence of the Competition Tribunal's interpretation of the Act in the strict consumer protection terms favoured by the antitrust agencies in the US. If this interpretation prevails, explicit consideration of efficiencies arguments for mergers and specialization agreements will be virtually eliminated. Lawson A. W. Hunter, "The Role of Competition Policy in the New Millennium" Competition policy and competition policy administrators are likely to come under increasing pressure to fill the regulatory void left by the widespread deregulation that has taken place in many western economies. That pressure should be resisted. Competition policy should not be compromised to take on a more heavy handed regulatory role. R. Shyam Khemani, "Competition Policy and Economic Development" There is a growing consensus regarding the principal elements of the best practice" towards maintaining and encouraging competition in an economy. The author outlines the basic principles that should guide a developing or transition economy in putting in place, or reforming, a competition policy. Derek Ireland, "Competition Policy and Consumer Protection" Competition policy and consumer protection are closely allied fields, shaped by the same global economic forces, and both aiming at enhanced consumer sovereignty and choice. Regulation efforts in the two domains must be closely coordinated. Lane Kenworthy, "Cooperation and Economic Performance" Economic vitality depends on cooperation in various forms, not only on competition. The author studies comparative economic performance of industrialized countries over time and finds that economies incorporating more cooperation out-perform those relying predominantly on competition. Maurice Pinard, "L'Effet Bouchard" Sorry, the abstract for this article is not available. Joop Hartog and Jules Theeuwes, "Explaining the Dutch Economic Miracle" The Netherlands has succeeded, where most of continental Europe has failed, to get unemployment well below 10%, without major conflict and without abandoning its commitment to generous social programs. In the view of these authors, the key facto in Dutch success has been institutional flexibility. |
