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Article
Antitrust Enforcement and Sectoral Regulation: The Competition Policy Benefits of Concurrent Enforcement in the Communications Sector
Competition Policy International
  • Jonathan Baker, American University Washington College of Law
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2013
Journal

Competition Policy International

Abstract

The US competition agencies – the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – often share jurisdiction with sectoral regulators also charged with fostering competition, such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This article highlights how this institutional structure – concurrent jurisdiction – helps protect competition through the lens of recent US experiences involving the communications industry. It argues that concurrent jurisdiction is likely most effective when the communications regulator has independent access to industry information to limit capture, when the communications regulator can take a long-term perspective, when the antitrust agency can focus on competition as its sole goal, and when senior appointments at the two agencies are made with coordination between them in mind.

Citation Information
Jonathan Baker. "Antitrust Enforcement and Sectoral Regulation: The Competition Policy Benefits of Concurrent Enforcement in the Communications Sector" Competition Policy International Vol. 9 Iss. 1 (2013)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jonathan_baker/38/