Expectation-Based Fairness in Agricultural Markets: Implications for Antitrust Policy

The 2009 judgment by the Constitutional Court of South Africa in Mazibuko v City of Johannesburg is seen by many as a watershed in the interpretation of the fundamental constitutional right of access to water. The Constitutional Court ruled that the right of access to sufficient water does not require that the state provide every person upon demand and without more with sufficient water. Nor does the obligation confer on any person a right to claim "sufficient water" from the state immediately. Reactions to the judgment have been consistently negative, with criticisms largely focusing on the Court's apparent lack of appreciation for the situation of the very poor. It is not easy, however, to overturn a decision of the Constitutional Court and South Africa will need to work within the constraints of the precedent for many years to come. It is suggested in this article that two subsequent, recent judgments (one of the Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa, City of Cape Town v Strümpher, 2012, and one of the High Court in Zimbabwe, Mushoriwa v City of Harare, 2014) show how it might be possible for courts to avoid the Mazibuko precedent and yet give special attention to water-related rights. Both cases concerned spoliation applications in common law, but both were decided as though access to water supply and water-related rights allow a court to give weight to factors other than the traditional grounds for a spoliation order. It can be argued that in both cases the unlawfulness necessary for a spoliation order arose from a combination of dispossession and breach of rights in respect of a very particular and special kind of property. In the arid and potentially water-stressed Southern African region, and in the context of extreme and apparently increasing poverty, there will undoubtedly be more court cases to come involving access to water. Conclusions are drawn as to how the two judgments considered might offer a way to ameliorate the harsh effects of the Mazibuko judgment.

The Assessment of Fairness in Agricultural Markets

This paper examines the evolution of national competition (antitrust) policies and enforcement approaches vis-a-vis intellectual property rights (IPRs) and associated anti-competitive practices in major jurisdictions over the past several decades. It focuses especially on the underlying process of economic learning that has, the authors suggest, driven relevant policy changes. Part 2 of the paper outlines the breakthroughs in understanding that have underpinned the evolution of competition policy approaches toward intellectual property licensing arrangements in the US, Canada and the EU. Part 3 elaborates the foundational insights that have motivated competition policy interventions with respect to 'newer' issues such as anti-competitive patent settlements and hold-ups in relation to standard setting processes, in addition to the modern focus on mergers that potentially lessen incentives for innovation and on abuse of dominance/single firm exclusionary practices in IP-intensive network industries. Part 4 outlines some of the core policy concerns and insights driving the increased emphasis that leading competition authorities now devote to policy advocacy and research in relation to the scope and definition of IP rights. Overall, the analysis suggests, firstly, that competition policy applications in the intellectual property sphere are matters of fundamental importance for economic advancement and prosperity, having a direct bearing on innovation, growth and the diffusion of new technologies. Indeed, the roles of IP and competition policy are now sufficiently intertwined and interdependent that neither can be well understood or applied in an optimal fashion in the absence of the other. Secondly, the thought evolution described herein implies that successful policy applications require careful study of market structure and behaviour, not in the abstract but with reference to the particular markets affected. Thirdly, it augurs favourably for the prospects of continuing gradual and incremental convergence in national approaches in this area, even spanning developed and developing countries, on the basis of continual learning and informed self-interest.

This paper examines the relationship between competition and trade policy in South Africa in order to address the role that each policy can play in achieving greater efficiency and welfare. There is the view, given the trade liberalisation that has occurred in South Africa, that the need for an active competition policy is accordingly reduced. While both trade and competition policy has been reformed in recent years, and import penetration has risen, it is not clear whether imports have been able to curb the possible abuse of market power. In the light of changes in trade policy over the period 1993 to 1996, the paper therefore develops an empirical model to test whether trade liberalisation has had an impact on the exercise of market power in South Africa. The reform of competition policy has however been more recent and therefore its exercise in more active form will not be captured in the period under review. The striking change of the period lies in the dramatic rise in import penetration ratios that occurred in the industrial sector offering the opportunity to estimate the impact of such penetration on profitability and market structure.

Part I. The Food and Agricultural Marketing System Overview.- 1. Evolution of Agricultural and Food Markets, Policies and Programs-Walter J. Armbruster, President Emeritus, Farm Foundation and Ronald D. Knutson, Regents Professor Emeritus, Texas A&M University.- 2. Expectations and Realities of the Food System-Jean Kinsey, Professor, University of Minnesota.- 3. History of Government's Role in the Food and Agricultural Marketing System-Richard G. Heifner, UDSA Economic Research Service, Retired. Part II. Market Structure, the Supply Chain and Marketing Orders.- 4. Market Structure and Competition Policy--Walter J. Armbruster, President Emeritus, Farm Foundation.- 5. Managing the Supply Chain through Contracts and Cooperatives-Ronald D. Knutson, Regents Professor Emeritus, Texas A&M University Robert Cropp, Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin.- 6. Federal and State Marketing Orders-Mechel Paggi, Director, Center for Agricultural Business, California State University Fresno and Charles F. Nicholson, Professor, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.- 7. U.S. Generic Advertising and Promotion Programs-John M. Crespi, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Kansas State University: and Richard D. Sexton, Professor, University of California Davis.- 8. U.S. Export Market Development Programs-Shida Henneberry, Regents Professor, Oklahoma State University. Part III. Food Quality Standards, Food Safety, Border Inspection and Invasive Pests.- 9. Challenges in Choosing the Mix of Public and Private Standards for Food Quality Assurance-Julie Caswell, Professor and Department Head, University of Massachusetts Amherst.- 10. Food Safety and Traceability-Diogo M. Souza-Monteiro, Lecturer, University of Kent, UK and Neal Hooker, Professor, The Ohio State University.- 11. Quality Assurance for Imports and Trade-William Nganje, Associate Professor, Arizona State University.- 12. Non-native Pest Prevention and Control: The Role of Government Interventions and their Impact on Efficiency-Dannele Peck, Assistant Professor, University of Wyoming. Part IV. Market and Consumer Information, Risk Management.- 13. Consumer Information and Labeling-Jayson Lusk, Professor and Willard Sparks Endowed Chair, Oklahoma State University.- 14. The Policy of Risk Management-Matthew Roberts, Associate Professor, The Ohio State University. Part V. Societal Issues.- 15. Local Food, Organics, and Sustainability-Dawn D. Thilmany McFadden, Professor, Colorado State University.- 16. Agricultural Biotechnology Issues-Michael Phillips, PhD, Technology Policy Consultant.- 17. Humane Treatment of Farm Animals-David Blandford, Professor, Pennsylvania State University. Part. VI. Challenges and Opportunities.- 18. Program Challenges and Future Opportunities-Walter J. Armbruster, President Emeritus, Farm Foundation and Ronald D. Knutson, Regents Professor Emeritus, Texas A&M University.- Glossary of Agencies, Programs and Organizations.- Index.

The connection between energy development and water access rights shows major problems for local communities, especially in areas that are scarce in resources. This article investigates approaches to protect the water rights of the local communities through legal frameworks while maintaining sustainable energy advancement. It examines the conflict between the growth of energy development and the equitable access to water for essential needs, such as drinking and agricultural purposes. The article suggests some ways to balance energy development and water access rights by examining effective legal frameworks and community efforts. It concludes that it is important to have a legal approach within the community to protect the vulnerable populations and, at the same time, to achieve energy security and water sustainability.

This study explores the ethical considerations of AI bias and fairness in service marketing and their impact on consumer trust and perceptions. As AI-driven marketing grows, understanding its ethical implications is vital for consumer confidence and fair practices. A structured questionnaire was administered to 368 respondents, selected via stratified random sampling for demographic representation. The survey gathered demographic data, exposure to AI marketing, and perceptions of AI fairness, ethicality, and trust using Likert scales. Results showed 67.9% of participants were exposed to AI marketing. Perceptions of AI fairness (mean score 3.5 ± 1.2) and ethicality (mean score 3.8 ± 0.9) were moderate. Strong correlations were also noted between perceptions of fairness, ethicality, and trust, with demographic factors like age and gender playing significant roles. The findings highlight the importance of ethical AI practices in building consumer trust and offer insights for marketers and policymakers to develop fair and transparent AI-driven marketing strategies.

Recently competition policy has become an important trade policy issue, since many policy makers now see competition policy as an important instrument to secure market access' to foreign markets. This paper analyzes this issue both from a theoretical point of view and from the review of the recent development of the Japanese competition policy. While voluntary trade cartels have a strongly negative international spillover, export cartels or international cartels do not constrain market access,' and export restraints were often used to ameliorate trade frictions. Moreover, domestic cartels often have a positive international spillover on the export from foreign countries. Thus, the recent focus on competition policy from market access' concern is misleading. The Japanese government has substantially strengthened its competition policy in the 1990s, especially in terms of drastic reduction of cartels exempted from the application of Antimonopoly Law and in strengthening its enforcement against cartels. While these changes of competition policy would be highly beneficial to the Japanese economy, it is not clear whether such policy changes could have a substantial impact on market access.'

The National Competition Review Committee was appointed in 1992 to consider Australia's competition policy. The Committee produced a report for the Commonwealth government in 1993 (the Report). One recommendation of this report was that a right of access to essential facilities be available to third parties. The Hilmer Report provided little further guidance on how a regime should operate in practice. The purpose of this thesis is to conceive such a regime for gas pipeline infrastructure.The physical and economic characteristics exhibited by gas pipelines are thoroughly investigated. This is considered an important step of any attempt to suggest a regulatory environment for an industry. The cost of capital for a pipeline and the economies of scale potentially available were the most significant economic characteristics of gas pipelines. It was shown that gas pipelines will typically exhibit subadditivity and transray convexity and should generally be classed as a natural monopoly. The owners of gas pipelines are shown to possess considerable latitude in sustainable price setting. The policy prescriptions of the contestability literature were thought not to be applicable for gas pipelines. Alternative regulatory regimes for gas pipelines were considered. It was thought that judicial regulation of access to essential facilities would be undesirable because of the complex and technical economic issues that tend to arise. The experience of third party access in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand was discussed. An access to essential facilities regime is unlikely to facilitate the evolution of more competitive markets if the owner of the essential facility remains able to dominate the industry. The interrelationships between asset values, rates of return and prices were shown. Consequently, asset values should be derived on the basis of current replacement cost. The capital asset pricing model provides a framework within which to assess the cost of capital faced by a pipeline owner. A cost of capital for the South-West Queensland to Wallumbilla pipeline and an optimal diameter for this pipeline are derived which provides a basis to determine the value of the asset base for the pipeline. Indicative prices according to various pricing rules, including discounted weighted average tariffs (which equates with a measure of average cost of transmission throughout the useful life of the pipeline), stand alone costs, marginal cost pricing, Ramsey pricing, non-linear (or multi-part) tariffs and opportunity cost pricing are assessed for varying levels of throughput. Informational limitations are significant. A regulatory framework is conceived which: • creates incentives for a pipeline owner to maximise throughput and operate efficiently; and • allows the pipeline owner to set efficient (multi-part) tariffs which satisfy an equity test and hence offer non-discriminatory on access fair and reasonable terms. The thesis concludes by emphasising that creating a third party access regime will only be justified where it increases competition in upstream or downstream markets, which may not occur if these markets are fundamentally uncompetitive.

The purpose of the paper is to investigate three issues. First, the paper tries to understand the definition of competition and hence the type of competition policy that can be drawn from the modern so-called Neo-Schumpeterian literature. We will see that this literature is abundant and diversified. In spite of its variety, it has also common features regarding the theory of competition as well as competition policy. Secondly we will also emphasize the various aspects of Schumpeter’s legacy that were or are under-estimated by his contemporary followers concerning the concept of competition. We will argue that these aspects are not negligible and that they may also influence the impact of Schumpeter’s own contribution to the characterization but also the criticism of present developments that claim to build a conception of competition policy in line with Schumpeter’s original message. Finally, and more generally, we will stress how Schumpeter’s and Neo-Schumpeterian developments and preoccupations in the field of competition can help us to enlighten the present developments related to competition and industrial policies and to set up their limits.

There is growing consensus among international trade negotiators and policymakers that a prime area for future multilateral discussion is competition policy. Competition policy includes antitrust policy (including merger regulation and control) but is often extended to include international trade measures and other policies that affect the structure, conduct, and performance of individual industries. This study includes country studies of competition policy in Western Europe, North America, and the Far East (with a focus on Japan) in the light of increasingly globalized activities of business firms. Areas where there are major differences in philosophy, policy, or practice are identified, with emphasis on those differences that could lead to economic costs and international friction. Alternatives for eliminating these costs and frictions are discussed, including unilateral policy changes, bilateral or multilateral harmonization of policies, and creation of new international regimes to supplement or replace national or regional regimes.A succinct monograph Competition Policies for the Global Economy outlining major conclusions and proposals has been released along with this more comprehensive volume.

Examines the behaviour of the industrial buyer, and studies the purchasing of reprographic equipment. Looks at straight replacement purchases, first time purchases, rebuys involving high cost equipment and rebuys due to dissatisfaction, in terms of a perceived risk model. Accepts that the industrial communications practitioner receives much less planning guidance than his consumer‐based counterpart. States current research is founded on the belief that a theory of communication appropriate to industrial buying must take on 6 main points – these are itemised and discussed. Discusses research design; research methodology; the determinants of perceived risk in industrial buying; risk handling behaviour in industrial buying; and a perceived risk model of buyer behaviour and its implications for competitive industrial marketing policy – all these are examined in great depth and each one given individual conclusions. Concludes that these examples by no means exhaust all the possible empirical bases from which industrial marketing policies may be devised, they serve to illustrate the way in which the model can be realistically applied to derive such competitive policies.

Purpose This study aims to understand the interaction between tax fairness perceptions, equitable tax burden distribution and tax compliance within Morocco’s unique socio-economic context, with the goal of uncovering strategies to enhance tax compliance. Design/methodology/approach Using the Delphi method, this study engaged tax experts in the Moroccan context to explore the impact of taxpayers’ perception of fairness, tax rates and tax burden on compliance. Their responses were gathered and analyzed with the aid of IRaMuTeQ software, which helped the authors identify themes relevant to the research question. Findings The preliminary results indicate a positive correlation between perceptions of tax fairness and compliance behavior, corroborating earlier studies conducted in different contexts. Notably, a substantial majority of Moroccan taxpayers perceive the current tax system as inequitable, deeming tax rates too high and the tax burden unfairly distributed among various taxpayer categories. This perception potentially influences their voluntary tax compliance behavior. Practical implications The findings have significant policy implications for the Moroccan Government and stakeholders. They suggest that by improving tax fairness, particularly by aligning tax assessment and payment modalities for employees, civil servants and small to medium enterprises, policymakers can encourage higher voluntary tax compliance, thereby potentially enhancing the efficiency of the Moroccan tax system. Originality/value This study adds to the existing body of knowledge by exploring the dynamics of tax fairness and compliance behavior in Morocco, a context which has been significantly understudied.

What is the effect of national antitrust policies in a world with international trade? Traditionally, economic analysis of mergers has assumed a closed economy, which—as we show in this paper—may lead to errant policy in an open economy. We use a very simple model to highlight some key issues in optimal competition policy when trade is important, and compare the nationally optimal number of firms with the globally optimal number of firms in a free trade environment. We show that countries will choose a competition policy that is ‘too strict’ in the sense that they will prefer to have more firms than is globally optimal, implying that convergence in competition policy should generally lead to a reduction in the number of firms. We also examine the strategic interaction between domestic and foreign competition policy when there is free trade and show that small and large countries will react very differently to changes in the other's policies.

This article addresses the ecological, socio-economic and political constraints facing pastoralists' water access rights in Blue Nile State, south-eastern Sudan, over the last five decades. It examines the main constraints on pastoralists' access to water and looks at such issues as climate change, increasing human population, the expansion of agriculture, the expansion of Dinder National Park, civil war and the new international border created after the secession of South Sudan in 2011.