Annual Baxt Lecture
The Competition Law & Economics Network hosts an Annual Public Lecture Series on competition law and economics related issues. The Lecture is given by an eminent international or national figure in this field on a topic of contemporary relevance. The intention behind the Lecture series is to highlight and generate debate about big picture policy issues as well as provide comparative insights from other jurisdictions.
About Professor Baxt
The lecture is named in honour of Emeritus Professor Bob Baxt AO in recognition of his substantial contribution to the development of competition law in Australia. In particular, the lecture acknowledges his significant support for the establishment of competition law as a recognised and sought after discipline at the graduate level at the Melbourne Law School. Professor Baxt was the Chair of the Advisory Board of the competition and consumer law specialty in the Melbourne Law Masters program.
2023 Baxt Lecture
The 14th Annual Baxt Lecture
Thursday 2 November 2023
Competition Law in the Age of Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence
Lecture by Professor Thomas Cheng
Abstract:
In this lecture, Professor Thomas Cheng will explore how algorithms and artificial intelligence may change the way that dominant companies misuse their market power, both as buyers and sellers.
In particular, he will examine how dominant companies may use algorithms and artificial intelligence to effectively engage in predatory conduct, exclude competitors, and exploit their market power, and consider how this could challenge and change our understanding and analysis of misuse of market power under competition law.
Speaker:
Thomas Cheng is a professor at the University of Hong Kong. He has written extensively on competition law in developing countries and on the competition law of a number of Asian jurisdictions, including Hong Kong, China, and Japan. His research has appeared in respected U.S. journals, including Chicago Journal of International Law, Berkeley Business Law Journal, Virginia Law & Business Review, and University of Pennsylvania Journal of Business Law, and in leading competition law journals such as Journal of Antitrust Enforcement and World Competition.
In 2020, he published Competition Law in Developing Countries, the first comprehensive monograph on the topic, with Oxford University Press. In 2021, he published The Patent-Competition Interface in Developing Countries, again the first comprehensive monograph on the topic, with Oxford University Press. In 2022, he was named by Global Competition Review, a leading competition law publication, as one of the 25 most influential antitrust academics in the world. In 2023, his article co-authored with Julian Nowag received the Best Unilateral Conduct article award from the prestigious Concurrences Antitrust Writing Award.
Event Recording: