European Community Merger Policy in the Service Industries: The Second Phase

This article examines recent developments in the application of the EU Merger Regulation to services. Policy evolution regarding the jurisdictional divide between Brussels and the national authorities is highlighted as is the contrasting treatment of different types of joint ventures. Particular attention is given to the first two prohibitions of service industry transactions (in broadcasting and related telecommunications) which were among only three cases banned under the Regulation in its initial five years. These show some of the problems of ensuring competition in services where access to infrastructure plays an important role. The conditional clearance after full proceedings of the first case where a separate market for technology was defined is also considered with reference to licensing.     

欧盟并购控制政策的演变与启示

本文认为,欧盟建立后十余年的时间里,沿用了欧共体的并购控制政策.这一政策是特定历史时期的产物,包含了较多的对非经济因素的考虑,又具有结构主义的特点.2004年4月,以新并购控制规则正式生效为标志,欧盟并购控制政策发生重大变革.在实质性内容上,新政策以新古典的微观经济理论为依据,对并购控制标准和市场结构分析方法进行调整;对与并购相关的反竞争效应的产生机制及效率问题进行阐释,加强了并购审查过程中的经济学分析.欧盟并购控制政策的演变过程带给我们的启示是:"经济学化"是并购控制政策发展的一般趋势;"竞争文化"的培育和先进技术手段的运用是并购控制政策得到有效执行的保证.     

Subsidizing Start-Ups: Policy Targeting and Policy Effectiveness

Start-up subsidies are a frequently employed policy instrument, the use of which is justified by alleged market failure resulting from positive external effects and capital market imperfections. This article investigates whether the allocation of subsidies reflects a policy focus on addressing these market failure occurrences. However, using survey data from the East German state of Thuringia, logistic regressions reveal a rather random subsidization of start-ups. Furthermore, propensity score matching suggests that subsidized start-ups would have survived and thrived in any case, an indication of deadweight losses of start-up subsidies. The analysis points to serious information problems arising when subsidies should be allocated to remedy market failure. Making the situation even more problematic is that failure to precisely target start-up subsidies is likely to result in market distortions and ineffectiveness.     

European Community Merger Control in the Service Industries

This article examines the application of the EC Merger Regulation to service industries in the light of the 50 final decisions relating to services taken in its first two years of operation. These cases generally raised few competition concerns and only one (Accor/Wagons-Lits) has led to full proceedings. However they have raised important questions about the calculation of turnover, definition of control and treatment of joint ventures as well as uncertainties about jurisdiction. An understanding of the Commission's evolving policy will be of increasing importance as service industries internationalise, especially if thresholds for investigation are eventually lowered as the Commission has proposed.     

Merger Patterns in the European Food Supply Chain

This paper investigates merger activity in the food supply chain in Europe as a whole, with an emphasis upon eight individual countries that were most merger active. It finds that M&A activity (vertical, horizontal, inward, and outward) has been substantial in both the production and distribution parts of the supply chain. Using spectral analysis, it also concludes that: (i) there are regular cyclical patterns in merger activity in seven of the eight countries; (ii) most countries exhibit strong coherency with overall EU merger activity in the food industry; (iii) the relative cyclical pattern of mergers in food manufacturing and retailing varies country to country; (iv) there is some evidence that mergers in manufacturing lead or Granger cause mergers in retailing; and (iv) patterns of merger activity in each of the countries studied (except for the UK and the Netherlands) are linked, at least in part, to business and capital market cycles.     

Storm Signals: An Analysis of the Trade Policy Review of the European Communities

Trade Policy Review of the European Communities 2004 provides greater transparency, and better understanding of the trade policies of the EC. The WTO Secretariat's Report and the Comments of the Representatives rightly warn of the possibility of major problems arising because of the shortcomings of the Common Agricultural Policy of the EC, and the systematic back‐loading in the implementation of the WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing. The discrepancy between the simultaneous allegiance to multilateralism and preferential trade arrangements is another difficulty which the EC and some other members of the WTO are facing. As a major player on the international trade scene, the EC's policy decisions will have a crucial effect on multilateral trade negotiations.     

European Merger Control: Do We Need an Efficiency Defence?

The European Commission recently published a Green Paper on the review of the Merger Regulation, which, amongst other things, invites comments on whether the Merger Regulation should be amended to make explicit allowance for an efficiency defence. This paper is a contribution to this debate. After discussing the economic and political reasons that justify the introduction of an efficiency defence, it reviews the legislation and practice in the European Union, the United States and Canada. Finally, it examines the methodological and implementation problems raised by the efficiency defence and suggests a sequential approach as a way of minimizing these difficulties.     

Turkey: Trade Policy Review

The purpose of the paper is to discuss the main issues highlighted in the Trade Policy Review: Turkey 2003. The paper studies first the main developments in Turkey's trade regime and trade performance. Next it discusses Turkish trade policy emphasising the measures affecting imports, exports and foreign direct investment. The paper points out that agriculture is highly protected, and that autonomous reforms have been implemented in some of the services sectors of the economy. Since joining the EU will require Turkey to adopt and implement the whole body of EU legislation – the acquis communautaire– in all areas, Turkey needs to liberalise its agricultural and services sectors further. Finally, the paper discusses an issue that has largely been neglected in Trade Policy Reviews. It is the sustainability of current account. The paper stresses that Turkey needs to pay close attention to the sustainability of the current account.     

India: Trade Policy Review

The review of India's trade policy by the WTO, the third of its kind, is in three parts: the report by the WTO secretariat, a statement by the government of India and minutes of the discussion of the report by the trade policy review board. The review provides detailed information not only on India's trade and foreign investment policies but also an analytical review of India's export and economic performance. The review notes that India has made considerable progress with the liberalisation of its trade and investment regime, but it has a long way to go if it were to achieve a growth rate of eight to nine per cent, the stated objective of the policy makers. This paper, drawing upon the material in the report, analyses India's growth prospects and endorses the broad conclusions of the report.     

European Transport Policy in a Broader Perspective

On 12 July 2007 the European Parliament passed, with an overwhelming majority, a resolution on the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament of 22 June 2006 entitled “Keep Europe moving – Sustainable mobility for our continent – Mid-term review of the European Commission's 2001 Transport White Paper”.1 This article outlines the main positions of the European Parliament in relation to the focal points of the Commission's position concerning present and future European transport policy.     

Company Taxation and Merger Incentives in International Oligopoly: on International Policy Coordination with Strategic Trade

We analyse how national taxation of firms is likely to affect merger incentives in international markets. In particular, we ask whether non-coordinated trade policies stimulate cross-border mergers that are overall inefficient, and if this then is an argument for international coordination of such policies? We address this issue in a setting where policy makers use two-part tariffs to tax exporting firms. The analysis reveals that while non-coordinated policies may induce cross-border mergers by allowing the firms in question to play national policy makers out against each other, this can nevertheless be overall welfare enhancing compared to market outcomes under coordinated policy making.     

Regime Market Performance Analysis: Informing European Consumer Policy

The Single Market of the European Union has progressed during recent decades to encompass more than 500 million consumers in 28 EU Member States and adjoining countries. During the same period, consumer issues have received growing policy interest and policy measures have been put in place to harmonize the Single Market, that is, to make national markets more alike. Yet, in order to provide policy measures that promote desirable market outcomes, the considerable challenge of understanding differences in the market performances of participating countries and the relationships between national markets and the Single Market need to be addressed. Consequently, this article proposes the consideration of differences in terms of regimes, that is, between groups of similar countries, when assessing the performances of markets. Differences in market performances are analysed with the Kruskal–Wallis test using survey data from the European Commission, and results were reviewed against market studies carried out by the Commission. Findings show that regime differences in market performance can indeed be observed and that the regime approach can draw policy attention to commonalities in market arrangements in addition to the consumer issues conventionally examined, such as price differences and consumer awareness.     

我国私营企业对外贸易的现状、问题与对策

私营企业对外贸易高速增长是现阶段我国经济发展中值得特别重视的现象。本文概要阐述我国私营企业对外贸易的现状与特点,分析其存在的主要问题和症结,并提出初步的对策建议。