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| Warren-Boulton
Lectures on Vertical Restraints at ABA Program |
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On April 20, MiCRA Principal
Rick Warren-Boulton presented a three-hour course on the “Economics
of Vertical Restraints” for members of the ABA Antitrust Section.
Dr. Warren-Boulton has published extensively on this topic and is recognized
as an expert in the economics of vertical restraints. He has also provided
expert testimony in a number of matters in which vertical restraints
have allegedly been used to exclude competitors, including Concord
Boat v. Brunswick and U.S. v. Microsoft.
The primary focus of the presentation was the different treatment of
vertical restraints in economics and the law. In attempting to determine
the competitive effects of different vertical restraints, legal analysis
tends to focus on the form of the restraint (e.g., tying or requirements
contracts). Economic analysis, in contrast, focuses on (1) whether the
products involved are complements or substitutes and (2) the economic
rationale for the restraint. Since many vertical restraints could have
either procompetitive or anticompetitive motivations, focusing on the
form of the restraint does not necessarily advance the analysis. Using
an economic approach would also eliminate the anomalous treatment of
vertical restraints compared to vertical integration. Firms are frequently
enjoined from engaging in certain types of restraints, even though they
would not be challenged if they tried to accomplish the same goals through
vertical integration.
The course was the fifth in the series, Economics for Lawyers, a program
sponsored by the Section’s Economics Committee. The courses are
designed for attorneys who have little formal training in economics,
and they are being taught by a panel of prominent academic and consulting
economists. Recent presenters include Dan Rubinfeld (market definition),
George Hay (competition), Richard Rapp (market power), and Jerry Hausman
(merger analysis). |
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