PhD student: Ms L.C.M. Brekhof

Promotor: Mrs Prof A.T. Ottow

Duration: 1/11/2008 - 31/10/2012

Abstract:

This research project will focus on the rules on economic proof in relation to the intervention by regulatory authorities on the basis of general competition law and economic regulation. The existing legal frameworks of the European Union, the Netherlands, and the United States may be evaluated from a legal point of view and an economic point of view. How can the right balance be found between the need for sufficient economic proof and the need for effective supervision on the market? Which rules on proof should be developed to reconcile the need for a more economic approach with the need for effective market regulation? The following aspects will feature in this research project: A comparative study of the European, Dutch, and American legal frameworks and case law relating to rules on economic proof in administrative law, competition law and sector specific regulation; A multidisciplinary study of the economic analyses and methods used in economic cases in the fields of competition law and sector specific regulation; An interdisciplinary study of the legal and economic literature on issues surrounding rules on economic proof as well as a study of the views and behaviour of regulatory authorities and market participants in this respect; An evaluative study towards an appropriate framework of legal and economic points of view in order to develop rules on economic proof that are in line with both the need for a more economic approach in competition law and the need for effective market regulation.