Complex Pricing Strategies: Predation, Rebates, and Bundling – Lessons from Economic Analysis

By Dr. Fabien Curto Millet

Complex pricing strategies deployed by dominant undertakings have often been targeted by competition authorities and courts on the basis of alleged exclusion. Their effects are however difficult to evaluate. In this article from the Revue Concurrences, NERA Senior Consultant Dr. Fabien Curto Millet starts by providing a basic framework for the assessment of exclusionary abuses through an analysis of predatory practices and the means for their detection. This starting point is used to shed light on the mechanics of practices such as loyalty rebates and bundling, noting both their potential for anticompetitive and possible procompetitive efficiency effects. The article is published in French, and is based on Dr. Curto Millet's presentation at a recent Droit & Economie de la Concurrence conference in Paris, which also featured Professor Emmanuel Combe, Member of the Autorité de la Concurrence and Professor of Economics at the Université de Paris I, and Joseph Vogel, Senior Partner at Vogel & Vogel.

View abstract and text on the Revue Concurrences website, or download a PDF of the article by using the link on the left.

Citation: Joseph Vogel, Fabien Curto Millet, Complex pricing strategies , Concurrences, N° 3-2010, n°31903, www.concurrences.com.