The Antitrust Contributions of Roger Blair

DOI10.1177/0003603X16657213
Date01 September 2016
AuthorD. Daniel Sokol
Published date01 September 2016
Subject MatterArticles
Article
The Antitrust Contributions
of Roger Blair
D. Daniel Sokol*
Roger Blair has made a significant impact on the fields of antitrust law and economics. Roger received
his PhD in economics in 1968. His first posting was not in a university but in Vietnam, where he served
a tour of duty and met his wife. Things were tough in Vietnam, but Roger, the child of Scottish
immigrants, grew up in New Jersey, so he was prepared for tough. Since 1970, Roger has been a
professor of economics at the University of Florida, where he is presently the department chair
(whether he has remained chair because of superior skill or because nobody else is willing to deal
with crazy administrators, student demands, and faculty politics is an empirical question that has not
been tested). During Roger’s academic tenure, he has authored or coauthored 197 articles and book
chapters and sixteen books.
Roger’s scholarship can be divided into a number of themes: intellectual property and innovation,
health care, vertical restraints (including franchising), goals of antitrust, buyer power, economic
evidence and expertise, remedies, sports, efficiencies, and private enforcement of antitrust.
Though primarily writing for an economics audience, Roger has written extensively for a law
audience as well. This work has translated economic principles into policy-oriented law review articles
that help push academic and policy debates within antitrust law. As of April 2016, Roger has been cited
by the Supreme Court five times and lower federal courts 137 times. This is a more impressive list than
for all but a rarified group of law professors. Roger is among the top 250 most-cited people of all time
in law according to Heinonline.
1
Remarkably, Roger holds no law degree and has never taught in a law
school, although he has seen more time in depositions and in court than most law professors.
Antitrust economics has transfor med significantly since Roger firs t became an academic. The
demise of structure-conduct-performance paradigm, the rise of game theory and its application to
antitrust, and a revolution in empirical industrial organization are just some of the changes. These
transformations in antitrust are also reflected in the history of the Antitrust Bulletin, where Roger was
the longtime economics section editor.
This symposium issue of the Antitrust Bulletin brings together articles inspired by a number of the
themes of Roger’s writing from law and economics professors in Canada and the United States. Daniel
*
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
Corresponding Author:
D. Daniel Sokol, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
Email: sokold@law.ufl.edu
1. See https://www.law.ufl.edu/law-news/uf-law-faculty-members-included-in-top-250-legal-scholars-of-all-time.
The Antitrust Bulletin
2016, Vol. 61(3) 355-356
ªThe Author(s) 2016
Reprints and permission:
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DOI: 10.1177/0003603X16657213
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