Businesses and people are concerned about limitation of natural resources and the threat of changing climate. According to Inara Scott, assistant professor in the College of Business at Oregon State University, present-day anti-trust laws are not appropriate for the global concerns today.
"When it comes to the environment, we're used to thinking of companies as part of the problem," said Scott, student of environmental law practices. "But today a lot of companies want to be part of the solution. They want to become more socially-responsible and drive sustainability for themselves and the consumer.
"The question for them becomes 'How do I promote better environmental practices without losing market share?'"
Scott says that antitrust laws alone may not prevent businesses from collaborating with one another. However, it is the implementation of these laws over all these years that has had a detrimental effect on businesses, Scott said. Her research on the subject was published in the American Business Law Journal's spring issue.
"The law is increasingly recognizing the role that sustainability has to play in the marketplace," Scott said. "But out of an abundance of caution, companies avoid anything that looks like it might be considered a violation of antitrust laws."
According to Scott, the primary concern is that certain kind of behaviors spark allegations of "per se" antitrust violation. In this case, facts lose importance over appearance of irregularity. In these situations, she said, it gets difficult for the companies to defend the accusations.
The standards of "per se" were developed on the basis of functional markets that operate flawlessly. However, this is not how a market works, especially in today's scenario, Scott said. Markets around the world are affected by many factors such as environment, limitation of resources and a dominant government.
"Some kind of defense to antitrust law violations should be available if there is a market failure," Scott said. "Behaviors that benefit consumers should be allowed. We can find ways to make exceptions for that."
Scott added that people who do not trust big businesses may worry that changing laws may lead to their abuse. However, that mistrust and fear is affecting our options to tackle bigger issues related to climate change and diminishing natural resources.
"We are so deeply rooted in our assumptions about markets and competition," Scott said. "It is very hard to challenge that. But these laws were written at a time when resources seemed inexhaustible, whereas today we live in an era of limited resources."
