An entertaining book on competition law, written in a storytelling format, based on the author’s twenty years of experience, to help business people and managers who are very successful in competition but intend to leave “competition law compliance” to their lawyers, thus facing million-dollar fines.
We frequently encounter a cliché that everyone knows: “Ignorance of the law is no excuse!” But what about not knowing court decisions? Can a person be sued and penalized by the same administration for “complying with” the provisions of a regulation which the administration has published? I can almost hear many of you saying, “Of course not; that’s absurd...
If we restrict the supply, can we reduce the prices? From the perspective of economics, it should be the opposite. So, does limiting the number of bakeries and requiring permits for bread sales reduce bread prices? After the New Year, bread prices increased in some cities, sparking debates about whether this is a “price hike” or simply an “adjustment.” A few days ago, the...
I came across a news article in a newspaper a while ago, and the title of the article caught my attention: Yes, you read it correctly! In 2008, a requirement was introduced that anyone wanting to become a general secretary of chambers and stock exchanges must have a criminal conviction for the abovementioned crimes. The first sentence above was the headline of a news article published in...
In the third article of the series on Regulatory Traps, we examine the developments after a parliamentary commission’s work at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Although the first few paragraphs may seem technical, the continuation of the article explores how an intervention by the relevant commission, driven by aesthetic concerns, resulted in unintended consequences. In 1994...
Consisting of narratives penned between 1994 and 2004, and achieving the second position in the 2010 Orhan Kemal Short Story Contest, “YAZI” ultimately saw its publication as a book in September 2014. The journey’s conclusive stride emerges right where everything commenced. Although the crux arguably resides more within the expedition than its culmination, human inquisitiveness...
At Mülkiye Association, we experienced the joy of a signing event, and right after, we delved into a deep conversation about Ece Ayhan’s life. However, news of an earthquake arrived: Anadolu Agency announced the passing of Yaşar Kemal. These two lines of news transported me back 22 years… It was probably March or April of 1993. Four friends from the same school had knocked on Yaşar...
In the first part of the “Pitfalls of Regulations” series, we delved into the intricacies of regulation, explored the perils of neglecting the nexus between purpose and means, and outlined what corrective actions should be taken [1]. Now, we embark on a journey concerning the introduction of “Regulatory Impact Analysis” (RIA) into Turkish legislation in 2006 and its...
Regulations are a concept that actually exists in our lives as long as the state exists, partly due to the development of market economies and partly due to the winds of European Union membership, resulting in more frequent encounters and discussions. Regulation, in its simplest definition, signifies “rules based on state authority.” Therefore, regulations stand apart from other...
The success story of the liberalization of domestic air passenger transportation in our country in 2002 is essential for concretely illustrating the benefits of competition and the relationships between policy design, bureaucracy, regulations, and markets. Some key lessons from this success story are outlined below: The data relating to the market at the beginning of the liberalization process...
The Theory… I had the privilege of addressing the delegates from several countries at the OECD’s Global Forum on Competition in 2006 (see the presentation). As one of the lead discussants, I summarized the relationship between competition and concessions in just 15 minutes. Therefore, I decided to sum up the whole issue in one chart, and later on, in my seminars, I had the chance to...
In the past weeks, one of the agenda items of the 12th session of the UNCTAD Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy in Geneva was the Review of Competition Law and Policies in Mongolia. Within the framework of the Review Report [1] prepared after the financial aid provided by TIKA (Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency), the competition law and policy practices in...
Seeing that a chapter of a period that once filled a limited number of individuals curious about computers, different operating systems, and technological developments with great joy and hope is coming to a close, I realized that the time had come to publish an article I had penned in the past; but continuously postponed its publication due to an excessive sense of meticulousness or perfectionism...
One of the fundamental tenets of a market economy is that when the “invisible hand” operates without any hindrance or guidance, the efficiency of activities and societal welfare will be maximized. Therefore, the necessity to preserve competition is one of the most important principles of a market economy. When we look at any introductory economics textbook, we are likely to see...
The markets are constantly changing and evolving due to factors like new products, new technologies, and emerging production and distribution methods. This dynamism requires competition law, which aims to maintain competition in the markets, to be just as dynamic and continuously evolving. In line with the above, economic methods are used for evaluating markets, defining product markets or...
In the previous post titled “Privatization and Competition – Part I: Why?” I have stated that the goal of privatization is not merely “disposing of public enterprises to the private sector” because it is difficult to operate state-owned companies (SOEs) like private enterprises and often not feasible. Instead, the aim is to transfer these entities to the private sector...
In seminars related to competition law, when the privatization topic comes up, it’s common to see that the majority of participants approach the issue with preconceived notions and often ask the following classic question: Why are we “selling” these State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), which are among “the most profitable organizations” in the country? The statements in...
Watching buildings turn into decks of cards after an earthquake leaves one facing pain and many questions. Especially if the hospitals, where we entrust our lives, and schools or dormitories, where we entrust our beloved children, were the first to collapse in every earthquake… It is tough to accept that we prepare graves for ourselves and our loved ones with the taxes we pay! In such days...
Within the framework of the collaboration between the Competition Authority and Istanbul Bilgi University Faculty of Law, a symposium titled “Abuse of Dominance: Issues and Solution Proposals” took place on June 22, 2010, Tuesday, at Istanbul Bilgi University’s Dolapdere campus. During this symposium, Barış Ekdi presented an article titled “Abuse of Dominance through Tying...
1. The US Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division Filed Lawsuit Against Apple, Adobe, Google, Intel, Intuit, and Pixar As a result of its investigation launched in June 2009, the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice filed a complaint to the Washington D.C. court on September 24, 2010. The complaint alleges that starting from May 2005, executives from Apple, Adobe, Google...
A “small world” is described as a network in which closely intra-connected groups are connected with each other through inter-group shortcuts. In Collective Dynamics of Small-World Networks Watts and Strogatz introduce a small-world model with short average path length and high clustering coefficient. The W&S Model is built by rewiring a regular lattice to create long-range edges or shortcuts...
The Crime & Punishment Model shares some characteristics of Schelling’s Segregation Model and J.M. Dalle’s Model in terms of local interactions and heterogeneity but also has different characteristics, such as learning/ individual memory, two-way interaction, individuality, and transition of agents. The aim of the model is to show the different outcomes of the different policies in a given...
Brian Arthur generalized his model to study economic processes like standardization, network effects, and so-called ‘increasing returns.’ The model assumes that the choices made by previous adopters from among competing technologies will matter for individual consumers. This model can explain why QWERTY became the standard keyboard in some geographies, although it may not be the most efficient or...
Scale-free networks show specific properties that are very distinct from real networks. We often see a significant number of nodes in a network with many links and many nodes with minimal links connected to them. A very good example is Google, which is connected to literally all sites worldwide, and most of these sites have a significantly smaller number of nodes. Another example could be airline...
Barış EKDİ’s study titled “Closing the Market through Vertical Agreements of Undertakings in Dominant Position” has been released as a book under the auspices of the Competition Authority. The work’s foundation is built upon Barış EKDİ’s LL.M. thesis, penned during 2002-2003 at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law, which earned him a “first” degree...
Let’s wear the shoes of an investor and prepare for the tender of the privatization of the telecommunications monopoly in a given country. Which of the options below will be more attractive for you, thus you will be willing to invest more money? And why? a) The company will be sold, including the monopoly rights, and no one will interfere with your pricing later on. b) The company will be...
The Court of Justice of the European Communities has encountered a pivotal situation involving the clash between trademark rights and the unhindered movement of goods, and it has leaned in favor of the latter. This choice implies that parallel importers are now granted the right to repack, re-label, and even rebrand pharmaceuticals in accordance with the importing country, despite existing...
The Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry (EUROCHAMBRES) has collaboratively released the second book in a series of six books with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB). The book, titled “COMPETING EFFECTIVELY,” is now published. Its aim is to align the Turkish business world with EU legislation, and it is essential for those who seek to...
A well-designed industrial policy is actually one of the most important tools for a country’s development. However, since every country’s production resources, capabilities, and priorities differ from raw materials to human resources, it is not possible to talk about a one-size-fits-all industrial policy. On the other hand, it is now understood that industrial policies are not solely...
A single sentence in the preface of Wood & Smith’s book (2004) reverberated in my mind and prompted this paper’s inception: “When someone says, ‘I am going online’, where are they going?“ That marked the commencement of my journey, far removed from the familiar theories of economics, law, and business management that I’d encountered as a student. I...
Jean-Michelle Dalle Model [1] shows the interactions among a finite number of agents on a toric network. Therefore, each agent interacts with its neighbors on the north, east, south, and west; and since it is a toric network, the agent on the top north interacts with the agent on the south-west corner of the agent as its north neighbor, top-east agent as its west neighbor and so on… In other...
The meaning of “brand” has undergone significant changes over time. It has evolved into a symbol that helps users define their identity and provides information about themselves, in addition to indicating the producer and product quality. As a result, brands now add extra value to the products or services they represent. This has made brands one of the most valuable assets for...
Vertical restraints are commonly perceived as mechanisms that enhance efficiency and are typically evaluated within the context of an exemption system. Nevertheless, situations arise where the convergence of vertical restraints and market power can pose a substantial threat to healthy market competition. As a result, this study delves into the circumstances under which vertical restraints might...
Why does an international treaty bring liabilities to the individual companies apart from the contracting parties? How do EC competition rules differ from those of the US? What are the responsibilities of Turkey in order to transpose the acquis and what has been done so far? The essay presented in the symposium of Gazi University seeks the answers to the questions above. Six years later, the...
“What sort of relationship can exist between competition (antitrust) law and anti-dumping? They stem from entirely different realms…” Those were the exact words my friend from the Ministry of Foreign Trade shared with me when I embarked on writing this thesis… As a consequence, this thesis stands as a pioneer in amalgamating concepts from two distinct domains and...
When does the act of price undercutting become classified as “predatory pricing” within the scope of competition law, and what are the associated conditions? Turkey introduced competition law in 1994 with the objective of establishing and upholding the necessary circumstances for the effective operation of its market economy. Consequently, the concepts linked to competition law and...
Especially prior to the enactment of the Law on Protection of Competition, it can be observed that certain provisions within the pre-existing legislation either directly or indirectly contradict the stipulations of Law No. 4054 or the fundamental principles of competition law, which are intertwined with the tenets of the market economy. In this context, the role of the Competition Authority lies...
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