Private Labels, Brands and Competition Policy

Ariel Ezrachi is the Director of The University of Oxford Centre for Competition law and Policy; Slaughter and May Lecturer in Competition Law, Oxford University; and Fellow, Pembroke College, Oxford. Ulf Bernitz is Professor of European Law at Stockholm University; and Director of The Wallenberg Foundation Oxford/Stockholm Association in European Law, Institute of European and Comparative Law, University of Oxford.

PART I: THE NATURE OF RETAIL COMPETITION ; 1. Private labels - what drives them forward ; 2. The business model for manufacturers' brands ; 3. Bargaining between retailers and their suppliers ; PART II: MARKET POWER AND THE ABUSE OF DOMINANCE ; 4. Market power in consumer goods industries ; 5. Private labels and branded goods: Consumers' "horrors" and "heroes" ; 6. Private Labels and Article 82 EC ; PART III: VERTICAL RESTRAINTS ; 7. Private labels, dual distribution and vertical restraints: An analysis of the competitive effects ; 8. The vertical/horizontal dichotomy in competition law: some reflections with regard to dual distribution and private labels ; PART IV: IN-STORE COMPETITION, PRICING, MARKETING AND ADVERTISING ; 9. Retailer and private labels: asymmetry of information, in-store competition and the control of shelf space ; 10. Misleading packaging, copycats and look-alikes: an unfair commercial practice? ; 11. Private labels, product variety, and price competition - lessons from the German grocery sector ; 12. Advertising, promotional campaigns and private labels ; PART V: RETAIL CONSOLIDATION AND THE USE OF REMEDIES ; 13. Retail consolidation: the implications of mergers and buying alliances ; 14. Retail competition - the use of ex-ante and ex-post remedies ; PART VI: PRIVATE LABALES - THE US EXPERIENCE ; 15. United States competition law policy - the private label experience ; PART VII: CONSUMER WELFARE AND ENFORCEMENT STANDARD ; 16. The 'consumer welfare' standard as a form of substantive protection for consumers under European competition law ; 17. Welfare objective and enforcement standard in competition law