Voluntary Environmental Agreements and Competition Policy
Tóm tắt
Voluntary environmental agreements are oftensuspected to promote collusive practicesbetween participating firms. The paperaddresses the antitrust implications ofGermany's voluntary Dual Management System forPackaging Waste Collection and Recycling (DSD). It uses analytical tools of the economictheory of the firm to examine features ofDSD's governance structure that were oftenidentified to impede competition. While thepaper does not argue that DSD performs asefficiently as a hypothetical solution in amore competitive setting, it shows that thesefeatures have an economic rationale from theviewpoint of the theory of the firm. Thegeneral conclusion is that it is necessary tocarefully analyze the institutional fine-tuningof a voluntary agreement in order to derive theoverall impact stemming from a formal lack ofcompetition. A more case-to-case-oriented,institutional research approach could thereforefruitfully supplement model-driven, theoreticalanalyses of voluntary environmental agreementsand their effect on market competition.
Tài liệu tham khảo
Aghion, P. and P. Bolton (1987), 'Contracts as Barriers to Entry’, American Economic Review 77, 388-405.
Bentzler, G., M. Halstrick-Schwenk, P. Klemmer and K. Löbbe (1995), Wettbewerbskonformität von Rücknahmeverpflichtungen im Abfallbereich. Untersuchungen des Rheinisch-Westfälischen Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI). Essen, Germany: RWI.
Berkovitch, E and R. Israel (1996), 'The Design of Internal Control and Capital Structure’, Journal of Financial Studies 9, 209-240.
Brau, R.and C. Carraro (2001), 'Are Voluntary Agreements a Threat to Competition?’, in Ch. J.
Highley and F. Leveque, eds., Environmental Voluntary Agreements: Research Insights for Policy-Makers. Milan, Italy: Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
Bundeskartellamt (2002), Press Conference of the Bundeskartellamton 23 August 2002. Documentation available at http://www.neuenachricht.de.
DSD (2002), Geschäftsbericht 2001 Der Grüne Punkt - Duales System Deutschland AG, Köln.
Flanderka, F. (1999), Verpackungsverordnung. Kommentar. Heidelberg, Germany: C. F. Müller.
Haverland, M. (1999), National Autonomy, European Integration and the Politics of Packaging Waste. Thela Thesis: Amsterdam.
Hecht, D. and N. Werbeck (1995), 'Rücknahmeverpflichtungen als Instrument der Abfallpolitik’, Zeitschrift für Umweltpolitik und Umweltrecht 1/95, 49-79.
Hicks,S J. (1935), 'Annual Survey of Economic Theory: The Theory of Monopoly’, Econometrica 3, 1-20.
Klein, B., R. G. Crawford and A. A. Alchian (1988), 'Vertical Integration, Appropriable Rents, and the Competitive Contracting Process’, Journal of Law and Economics 28, 297-326.
Lyon, T. P. and J. W. Maxwell (1999), '"Voluntary" Approaches to Environmental Regulation: A Survey’, in M. Franzini and A. Nicita, eds., Environmental Economics: Past, Present, Future. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.
Masten, S. E. and E. A. Synder (1989), 'The Design and Duration of Contracts: Strategic and Efficiency Considerations’, Law and Contemporary Problems 52, 63-85.
Ménard, C. (1996), 'On Clusters, Hybrids, and Other Strange Forms: The Case of the French Poultry Industry’, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 152, 154-183.
Mé, C. (1998), 'Maladaptation of Regulation to Hybrid Organization Forms’, International Review of Law and Economics 18, 403-417.
Michaelis, P. (1993), Ökonomische Aspekte der Abfallgesetzgebung. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr.
Michaelis, P. (1998), 'Verpackungsverordnung und Duales System aus ökonomischer Sicht’, Umwelt-und Planungsrecht 6/98, 210-216.
OECD (1999), Voluntary Approaches for Environmental Policy: An Assessment. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Paris
Sagia, C. (1996): 'Zur Frage der Vereinbarkeit der DSD GmbH mit dem Europäischen Kartellrecht’, Zeitschrift für vergleichende Rechtswissenschaft 95, 419-443.
Segerson, K. and T. J. Miceli (1998), 'Voluntary Environmental Agreements: Good or Bad News for Environmental Protection?’, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 36, 109-130.
Selmayr, M. (1998): 'Wettbewerbswidrige Praktiken bei der Entsorgung von Verbrauchsverpackungen im Rahmen des "Dualen Systems"’, Umwelt-und Planungsrecht 3/98, 99-102.
Spier, K. E. and M. D. Whinston (1995), 'On the Efficiency of Privately Stipulated Damages for Breach of Contract: Entry Barriers, Reliance, and Renegotiation’, Rand Journal of Economics 26, 180-202.
Thomé-Kozmiensky, S. (1994), Die Verpackungsverordnung: Rechtmäβigkeit, 'Duales System, Europarecht. Berlin.
Williamson, O. E. (1976), 'Franchise Bidding for Natural Monopolies - In General and with Respect to CATV’, Bell Journal of Economics 7, 73-104.
Williamson, O. E. (1979): 'Assessing Vertical Market Restrictions: Antitrust Ramifications of the Transactions Costs Approach’, University of Pennsylvania Law Review 127: 953-993.