On The Boycott Of Legal Regulation

Boycott means two or more than two competing enterprises make concerted refusals to deal with another competitor, dealer or client, or make concerted restrictions on dealings which has the same effect as refusing to deal, with the aim of coercing, punishing or something else. Boycott is made up of two components. One is body component, namely two or more than two competing enterprises including the professional association as a special kind. The other is behavior component, namely boycott is expressed as agreement, decision of association of undertaking or concerted practice of enterprises. Boycott is the concerted practice which restricts every enterprise concerned. It can be divided into different types such as commercial and noncommercial, competitive and anticompetitive, horizontal and vertical, explicit and implicit, direct and indirect etc. In foreign countries, there are three legislation models to regulate boycott. One is the American model which combines general legislation and stare decisis. Another is the Japanese model which combines general legislation and detailed examples. The last is the European Union model which combines general prohibition and extensive exemption. Since boycott has both competitive and anticompetitive effects, we should take the following three factors into consideration when analysing whether a boycott is legal or not. The first factor is the market, we should review the market power of the boycotting group. The second factor is the purpose, we should consider whether the actor has an anticompetitive purpose and whether boycott is a necessary way to achieve that purpose. The third factor is the effect, we should review the behavior' effects on competition, macroeconomic and consumers. Meanwhile, it is so difficult to judge a boycott that we should bring in circumstance evidence and distribute the testifying responsibility fairly. The exclusion and exemption systems are also stipulated in antimonopoly law. There are a lot of boycotts in reality in China. They are always intervened by government or professional association and are usually conducted publicly. In Chinese Antimonopoly Law they are stipulated in 'monopoly agreement'. The exemption system is also prescribed. However, this law is not mature. In order to perfect the regulation system for boycott, we should confirm the related concepts, perfect the legislation, make sure the executive organization, consolidate the punishing measures, pay attention to the integration among different laws and the cultivating of competition culture.