Papers by Mariateresa Maggiolino
Mercato Concorrenza Regole, 2018
Social Science Research Network, Apr 25, 2018
Uber is the most emblematic example of platforms that are challenging legislators, regulators and... more Uber is the most emblematic example of platforms that are challenging legislators, regulators and courts all over the world. Its advent has been a disruptive element in the taxi industry, showing how technological advances have created new ways to operate carriage of persons services and bringing the operation of traditional taxi services into question. Despite the differences between the countries concerned, there has been a general and strong reaction by taxi drivers against Uber. In Europe several lawsuits have been brought by traditional operators claiming that Uber would compete unfairly with them. Given the uncertainty over the legal qualification of Uber, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) has been called to give a preliminary ruling on the matter and it released its first judgment in December 2017, taking a clear stance on the definition of Uber activities as proper transport services. The paper analyses the CJEU’s decision and the insights for antitrust lawyers deriving from the current state of play, concluding by suggesting that policy makers should not limit the competitive pressure coming from Uber, but rather rethink from base level the regulation that applies to anyone offering private transport services.
Rivista Italiana di Antitrust / Italian Antitrust Review, Jul 4, 2017
Mercato Concorrenza Regole, 2017
Sin dai lavori fondativi di Rochet e Tirole, i sistemi di pagamento rappresentano un campo eletti... more Sin dai lavori fondativi di Rochet e Tirole, i sistemi di pagamento rappresentano un campo elettivo per lo studio delle caratteristiche e delle implicazioni dei mercati a piu versanti. Le peculiarita delle piattaforme a piu versanti hanno evidenti ricadute nell'analisi concorrenziale e nella regolazione dei mercati. Le recenti pronunce della High Court britannica in "MasterCard" e della Corte d'appello per il Second Circuit statunitense in "American Express" sono le prime a valorizzare concretamente tali peculiarita nell'ambito della valutazione concorrenziale delle condotte, candidandosi cosi a rappresentare un punto di riferimento per una valutazione critica sia dell'attuale regolazione dei sistemi di pagamento sia dei futuri interventi antitrust anche in comparti diversi da quello specifico oggetto di indagine.
International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law, Jun 19, 2018
The Intel ruling will significantly affect EU competition law. It confirms that there cannot be p... more The Intel ruling will significantly affect EU competition law. It confirms that there cannot be per se violations of Art. 102 TFEU and that, once the Commission follows a specific test in assessing the anticompetitive nature of a unilateral conduct, the reviewing courts cannot overlook that test. In addition, Intel gives some hints as to the rules governing the burden and the standard of proof that should be applied to show that monopolistic behaviors are anticompetitive.
The creation and dissemination of distorted information is certainly not unknown. This phenomenon... more The creation and dissemination of distorted information is certainly not unknown. This phenomenon is by no means unexplored; on the contrary, it is the focus of several legal disciplines, from financial services regulation to the regulation of unfair commercial practices. However, from the antitrust law point of view, the relevance of information manipulation behaviors is neither crystal-clear nor much discussed in the literature. Nevertheless, in the current data economy, it is widely held that companies can shape demand not only by offering false and misleading information, but also by distributing unduly persuasive information, meaning information which exploits the cognitive distortions that specifically afflict individual consumers and their distinctive characteristics. The aims of this paper are twofold: to understand whether and under which circumstances the case of information manipulation may constitute an antitrust infringement and to assess in particular, whether antitrus...
1. Le ragioni dell'indagine; 2. La prassi e la dottrina antitrust in tema di manipolazione de... more 1. Le ragioni dell'indagine; 2. La prassi e la dottrina antitrust in tema di manipolazione dell'informazione; 3. Le condotte di manipolazione dell'informazione: dall'assenza di potere di mercato, all'abuso di posizione dominante, alla concertazione; 4. Analisi casistica; 4.1. AstraZeneca; 4.2. Google Shopping; 4.3. Avastin-Lucentis; 4.4. I casi Libor e Euribor; 5. Alcuni spunti di riflessione e osservazioni critiche; 6. Considerazioni conclusive.
Intellectual Property and Antitrust
Journal of Antitrust Enforcement
In recent years, many have wondered about the application of antitrust law in labour markets. Thi... more In recent years, many have wondered about the application of antitrust law in labour markets. This article analyses both the theoretical premises that justify such intervention and the ways in which it should occur. In this respect, the article takes steps from the economic literature on monopsony in the attempt to ensure that the logic that antitrust scholars customarily carry out in relation output markets applies in relation to labour markets as well.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2017
The EU Commission is eager to reform the current rules governing Internet Service Providers' copy... more The EU Commission is eager to reform the current rules governing Internet Service Providers' copyright liability. According to the Commission, online services providing access to copyright protected content uploaded by their users without the involvement of right holders have become main sources of access to content online. This affects right holders' possibilities to determine whether, and under which conditions, their works and other subject-matters are used as well as their possibilities to get an appropriate remuneration for them (value gap). In order to close the reported value gap between right holders and online platforms, the Proposal for a Directive on copyright within the Digital Single Market strategy endorses a wider definition of the communication to the public and imposes new control obligations on ISPs. Such a policy choice raises some concerns. First, it is doubtful whether the Proposal is consistent with both the interpretation of the notion of communication to the public provided by the European Court of Justice case law and the safe harbor granted by the E-Commerce Directive. Moreover, the Proposal is not supported by any empirical evidence. The lack of robust statistical evidence of displacement of sales by online copyright infringements undermines the ratio of the intervention, that is, the reported value gap and the consequent need to assure the right holders of an adequate remuneration for the circulation of works on the Internet.
Social Science Research Network, Apr 13, 2017
At present, in the United States no final word has been spoken as to the law on loyalty discounts... more At present, in the United States no final word has been spoken as to the law on loyalty discounts. On the one hand, many U.S. courts assess loyalty discounts under the predatory pricing test,…
Journal of Antitrust Enforcement, 2021
The lively debate about the right of gig workers to bargain collectively stems from the idea that... more The lively debate about the right of gig workers to bargain collectively stems from the idea that European Union (EU) competition law treats this group of workers worse than it treats employees. Namely, it is common to argue that employees, unlike gig workers, are permitted to conclude collective agreements because they are not undertakings and, therefore, not subject to EU competition law. In sharp contrast, by analysing the EU notion of undertaking, this article demonstrates—and this is the first of its theses—that in the labour market, which is the market that should matter in relation to the effects of collective agreements, employees are as much undertakings as any other worker, such as gig workers or other self-employed workers. The article further maintains that the reason employees are currently allowed to bargain collectively, while other workers are not, is to be found not within competition law, but outside it. At present, employees’ collective agreements are exempt from ...
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2017
The advent of big data analysis techniques make personalized prices possible. This paper sketches... more The advent of big data analysis techniques make personalized prices possible. This paper sketches a preliminary picture of this new phenomenon, first explaining how personalized prices flow from big data analysis, how personalized prices fit into the economic notion of price discrimination, how buyers perceive them, and how they affect consumer and social welfare. Then, seeking to square this new phenomenon with the existing legal framework, the article turns to the antitrust and contractual matters relevant to the quantum of personalized prices, as well as the unfair competition and privacy matters linked to the process whereby these prices are calculated and charged to consumers. The paper concludes that while personalized prices may give rise to some privacy concerns, from an antitrust perspective they very rarely harm the good functioning of the market insofar as it concerns variations in consumer welfare.
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Papers by Mariateresa Maggiolino