Is New Zealand's Commerce Act Working?

Is New Zealand's Commerce Act working?

A group of national and overseas experts will gather at a Wellington conference to explore the effectiveness of the first 14 years of the Commerce Act. Future developments, including the current legislation and ministerial inquiries into electricity and telecommunications will also be scrutinised.

The New Zealand Institute for Competition and Regulation conference
"Competition Law at the Turn of the Century" runs from November 3-5 in Wellington's Parkroyal Hotel.

Institute Director, Professor Lew Evans, says it's timely to reflect on competition law developments in New Zealand and to analyse the impact of new government policy and proposed legislative amendments.

Keynote speakers include Dennis Carlton, Professor of Economics at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago. He is co-editor of the Journal of Law and Economics and has consulted for the US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission on anti-trust matters. Professor Carlton has also served as resident scholar for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Frank Mathewson is Professor of Economics and Director of the Institute of Policy Analysis of the University of Toronto and is a widely recognised authority on industrial organisation. He has testified as an economic expert on cases involving mergers, antitrust and market or regulatory behaviour and is known for his writings and professional advisory work on the application of competition law in Canada.

Other speakers include: Professor Lew Evans and Terence Arnold QC on Competition Law in a small market economy - The New Zealand Setting; Professor Neil Quigley, Dean of Commerce and Administration at Victoria University on market power thresholds; James Farmer QC on monopolisation; Ian Millard QC on penalties and remedies; and Andrew Peterson, Rudd Watts & Stone and Kerrin Vautier, CMG on international perspectives.

The conference also features a panel discussion including the Rt Hon David Caygill on the Ministerial Inquiries into electricity and telecommunications.

The Institute of Competition and Regulation is a non-profit research institute which conducts high quality research on competition and regulatory issues and is based at Victoria University. Further conference details are available on the ISCR website at www.iscr.org.nz or by contacting the Institute on 04 463-5562.

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