On Monday 29 June 2020, M.F. Caporale Madi will defend her PhD dissertation, entitled: ‘Regulating Vertical Agreements: A comparative law & economics analysis of Brazil and Europe’.
The PhD thesis discusses the antitrust enforcement of vertical agreements in Europe and Brazil from an institutional perspective.
Vertical agreements represent a broad variety of supply and distribution contracts involving diverse market players, such as suppliers of diverse production inputs, manufacturers, distributors and retailers. The study of vertical agreements was always a complex subject and constitutes a lively dispute for antitrust enforcement. Vertical agreements can be considered pro-competitive, but it can also bring anti-competitive effects to markets, as they may increase collusive practices and foreclose markets. The assessment of the welfare outcomes of such practices depends on the context in which they are implemented.
The PhD thesis considers both the evolution of the legal framework in Europe and in Brazil and the application of the existing policies in practice, via the assessment of case studies. The thesis highlights the main challenges of the current approaches taken by the competition authorities in these jurisdictions and formulated specific proposals for improvements. It also discusses the challenges faced by law enforcers when it comes to the new forms of anti-competitive vertical agreements originated in digital markets. Because Brazilian competition rules were originally inspired by the European legal framework, this PhD research also resumes discussions regarding comparative law and the efficiency of transplanting laws and good practices.
The PhD defences will not take place publicly in the Senate Hall or Professor Andries Queridoroom due to the coronavirus. The candidates will defend their thesis online.