美国反垄断法对掠夺性购买的规制及其启示

A Study on the Regulations of Predatory Purchase in American Antitrust Law

掠夺性购买,主要是指买方通过提高对购买原材料或者初始产品价格和数量的方式损害竞争,并在供应市场(原材料采购市场)或者产出市场(商品销售市场)上赚取高额垄断利润的一种反竞争行为。它是一种驱逐竞争者的理性策略,即拥有垄断势力的买方可以通过实施掠夺性购买增加自己的垄断利润,造成社会福利的净损失,同时能够对身处供应市场和产出市场的竞争对手予以沉重打击。掠夺性购买中的买方垄断价格会在供应市场和产出市场导致资源分配的无效率,供应商和消费者一样属于同等的反垄断意义上的受害者,反垄断法应该谴责导致买方垄断价格的掠夺性购买行为。

Predatory buying or predatory bidding is the practice of increasing the prices paid for an input and the quantity purchased to injure competition and earn monopsony profits in the input market and output market.The predatory buying can be a rational strategy to eliminate competitors,that is to say,a monopsonist with monopoly power can increase profits and deadweight social welfare losses by engaging in predatory buying to injure firms that are competitors in both the input and output markets.Because monopsony pricing invariably causes distortions in both the input and output markets,and input suppliers and consumers are equivalent antitrust victims,antitrust law should condemn predatory buying practices that lead to monopsony pricing.