Preface

PREFACE

As we discuss in Chapter I, there have been several major

developments in case law since the first edition of Antitrust Law and

Economics of Product Distribution. In particular, the legal analysis for

some specific aspects of product distribution has changed dramatically

since this book originally was written nearly a decade ago, most notably

relating to resale price maintenance. In other areas, such as tying and price

discrimination, legal doctrines have not changed as much, but plaintiffs

appear to be having much less success under the rules and analyses that

have already been established. In areas such as cross-border distribution

and the sale of products over the Internet (and other manifestations of

technology in product distribution), the law has reached puberty in the last

decade. Application of existing rules to those newer situations is causing

progress in the evolution of both legal and economic thinking. Finally,

there has been some progress in economic learning regarding

distributional arrangements, although economics is still better at

identifying the key questions rather than providing clear answers.

For these reasons, it was time to update this book. Picking up on the

concept envisioned by the preceding editors, the approach was to have a

lawyer and an economist work together to provide drafts of each chapter.

With the assistance of both the Economics Committee and the Distribution

and Franchising Committee of the Section of Antitrust Law of the

American Bar Association, we have done that. Each pair was assigned to

review what had been written before, to scrap what no longer applies, and

to describe anew the latest and best legal and economic analyses that will

apply to product distribution.

In addition to the topics covered in the seven chapters in the original

book, this second edition of Antitrust Law and Economics of Product

Distribution adds three entirely new chapters. Chapter II is the first of the

new chapters. This chapter sets forth an overview of the many economic

principles that apply to distribution and franchising, highlighting the

principles that undergird modern analysis of each type of vertical restraint

or relationship. A group of economists, Serge Moresi, Spencer Graf, John

Woodbury, and Joshua Wright, and attorney Rob McNary shouldered the

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