Abstract
Competition law is a constitutive institution in capitalist markets, establishing
the rules for when interfirm coordination is allowed and where competition is
required (Paul, 2020). Yet comparativists have spent decades debating the
varieties of capitalism framework—which places the issue of coordination at
the center of the distinction between capitalist types—while paying virtually
no attention to cross-national variation in antitrust rules. This article develops
an original theoretical framework to conceptualize the relationship between
competition law and the organization of capitalism. We go beyond the usual
binaries (coordinated vs. liberal market economies, “restrictive” vs. “permissive”
antitrust regimes) to disentangle two dimensions of the law that
fundamentally shape patterns of coordination and competition both across
regulatory jurisdictions and over time. Applying our framework to analyze the
evolution of American and European competition law, we show how a
comparative coordination rights framework can be used to conceptualize key
institutional changes within contemporary capitalist systems.
the rules for when interfirm coordination is allowed and where competition is
required (Paul, 2020). Yet comparativists have spent decades debating the
varieties of capitalism framework—which places the issue of coordination at
the center of the distinction between capitalist types—while paying virtually
no attention to cross-national variation in antitrust rules. This article develops
an original theoretical framework to conceptualize the relationship between
competition law and the organization of capitalism. We go beyond the usual
binaries (coordinated vs. liberal market economies, “restrictive” vs. “permissive”
antitrust regimes) to disentangle two dimensions of the law that
fundamentally shape patterns of coordination and competition both across
regulatory jurisdictions and over time. Applying our framework to analyze the
evolution of American and European competition law, we show how a
comparative coordination rights framework can be used to conceptualize key
institutional changes within contemporary capitalist systems.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | Vol. 58(6) |
| Pages (from-to) | 1199-1237 |
| Number of pages | 39 |
| Journal | COMPARATIVE POLITICAL STUDIES |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 6 May 2025 |