The Fine Line Between Collaboration and Collusion: Comment for the DOJ-FTC’s Request for Guidance on Collaborations Among Competitors
- Author(s):
- John M. Yun
- Posted:
- 06-2026
- Law & Economics #:
- 26-10
- Availability:
- Full text (most recent) on SSRN
ABSTRACT:
This comment, submitted in response to the DOJ’s and FTC’s request for public input on collaborations among competitors, offers two recommendations for the revised guidelines. First, the agencies should include a dedicated discussion of trade associations and joint negotiations, given that roughly one-third of cartel cases historically arise from association activity and that key questions—group boycotts and the conduct of delegated leadership—remain underdeveloped in existing guidance. Second, the agencies should reaffirm a market-based, consumer-welfare framework for evaluating collaborations, pushing back against the growing movement to grant antitrust carve-outs for favored industries pursuing public-interest objectives.