A Study On Criteria For Anti-Monopoly Control On Conglomerate Merger

The development and improvement of market economy and the implementation of open policy promote China's conglomerate merger under the new environment. With the advantages of rapidly expanding production and operations areas and diversifying investment risk, enterprises use conglomerate merger as an approach to enhance their competition. However, conglomerate merger is a "double-edged sword": While proper use can promote the realization of enterprises'economies of scale, accelerate economic growth and increase consumer welfare; the merger out of control or being regulated improperly may lead to the anti-competitive effect and undermine the healthy development of the economy to the contrary. In recent years, some major countries (such as European and American countries) have changed the comparatively easing attitudes towards non-horizontal mergers, especially conglomerate mergers, to positive and prudent ones. Based on a grasp of this situation, the thesis, through sorting out the United States and EU's antitrust regulation standard theory and judicial practice on conglomerate merger, desires to explore the definition of the criteria for conglomerate merger control and clarify which kind of conglomerate merger needs to be regulated in order to make my pygmy effort for the implementation on China anti-trust law and establishment of enterprises merger system. The thesis is divided into three chapters, except for the parts of introduction and conclusion. From clarifying the concept of conglomerate mergers and through comparing the United States and EU's regulations and demonstrations on anti-trust control criteria, the thesis proposes some recommendations on the selection of standard theories of China anti-monopoly regulations on conglomerate merger.The first chapter introduces the concept and classification of the conglomerate merger, and analyzes the particularity of conglomerate merger by differentiating the concepts between horizontal mergers and vertical merger. Then, followed by the method of dialectical analysis, the promotion of competitive effects and the anti-competitive effects are analyzed hereunder.The second part attempts to study the anti-monopoly regulations on conglomerate merge of EU and United States from the basic economics, physical standards and assessment criteria, so as to explore the similarities and differences between the two regulatory standards which the two countries select and further provide theoretical and practical basis for the third part hereof that aims to delve into the establishment of China's anti-monopoly regulations on conglomerate merger. By setting the basis of economics as a research starting point, this section defines the criteria for anti-monopoly control on conglomerate merger via physical standards and assessment criteria varied from cases and make relatively systematic combing in the relevant regulations of the United States and the EU, for the purpose of obtaining the overall understanding on the theory on conglomerate merger regulation of the EU and the United States and making the foreshadowing to explore the criteria for anti-monopoly control on conglomerate merger in China. Basing on the current situations on conglomerate merger's regulations, the third part focuses on the relevant regulations of "Chinese anti-monopoly law" and shortcomings existed in the judicial practice through legislative and practical analysis and propose the following targeted recommendations: strengthening the guidance of physical standards, establishing the regulating idea of conglomerate merger combined the punishment with leniency, establishing a wide range of anti-competitive assessment standards.