Welcome to the Competition Law & Economics Network
Competitive markets deliver benefits that Australians value – consumer choice, affordable prices, innovation in goods and services, among them. The regulation of competition to ensure the delivery of such benefits has been a government policy with bipartisan support for over 30 years in this country. It is a policy shared by more than 100 governments around the world. However, competition regulation raises many challenging questions of both design and implementation. How do we define and measure competition for this purpose? What are the costs of competition? How do we balance the costs and the benefits? Who should decide when the rules of competition have been broken? What tests should apply and what information is necessary for their application? What should be the consequences for the companies and individuals responsible for breaking the rules?
These are some of the key questions that engage members of the Competition Law & Economics Network. We are a network of people engaged in researching and teaching, individually and collaboratively, in this exciting and significant interdisciplinary field. Members of the Network are associated with a wide range of research and teaching activities in areas of law, economics, regulation, sociology and other disciplines with a bearing on the regulation of competition. They are affiliated with one or more of the faculties of the University of Melbourne, including the Melbourne Law School, the Faculty of Business & Economics and the Melbourne Business School. They include full-time academics, as well as practitioners and regulators, from around Australia and the world.
We hope that you enjoy learning about the extensive range of competition law and economics-related activities at the University of Melbourne from our Network website.
Associate Professor Caron Beaton-Wells
Director, Competition Law & Economics Network
Details of the 2013 Competition and Consumer Law program in the Melbourne Law Masters are now available here. From 2014, it is expected that the Competition and Consumer Law program of the Melbourne Law Masters will offer a specialist Master of Competition and Consumer Law. Students who have previously completed subjects from the specialty list that are not credited towards another diploma or degree will be able to enrol in the new Masters and have those subjects credited towards that degree from 2014.
ACCC has released a cartel film as part of a major new awareness raising campaign inspired in part by the University of Melbourne's Cartel Project research showing low levels of knowledge of cartel conduct and anti-cartel laws and sanctions in the business community. The film is accompanied by a video news release with commentary from the ACCC Chairman, Qantas CEO and CLEN Director, Associate Professor Caron Beaton-Wells. Associate Professor Beaton-Wells' comment on these developments has been published in The Conversation.
The Melbourne Law School joins the Research Partnership Platform of UNCTAD. For more information about the RPP, click here.
Forthcomng Events: The Third Annual Baxt Lecture in Competition Law, presented by Professor Steve Calkins, a Member of the Competition Authority, will take place on Tuesday, 23rd October 2012. For more details click here.
CLEN Discussion Group series: The next date and topic is to be announced but for details of the previous Discussion Group sessions, please click here.
Roundtable on Private Enforcement of Competition Law, an invitation-only event was held on 12 November 2010, at Melbourne Law School, aimed at engendering constructive debate amongst stakeholders about this important topic. For more information, click here or contact Associate Professor Caron Beaton-Wells.
New book: 'Australian Cartel Regulation - Law Policy and Practice in an International Context' by Associate Professor Caron Beaton Wells and Professor Brent Fisse, published by Cambridge University Press, February 2011.
For further information, including how to order this book, click here.
New book: 'Criminalising Cartels: Critical Studies of an International Regulatory Movement' edited by Associate Professor Caron Beaton Wells and Dr Ariel Ezrachi, published by Hart Publishing, February 2011
For further information, click here. For further information, including how to order this book, click here.
A report on a major survey of the Australian public regarding anti-cartel law enforcement has been released by the University of Melbourne Cartel project team. To view the report, click here
Latest News and Events
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CLEN - Annual Baxt Lecture
12:00PM Tue 23 Oct.
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