Mergers and Acquisitions in the higher education sector in Brazil
CADE's decisions under the consumer welfare standard and the public interest theory
Keywords:
Competition/Antitrust Law. Higher Education. Consumer Welfare Standard. Public Interest Theory. Educational Constitutional Principles.Abstract
[Purpose] To verify if the decisions of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense - CADE, in Merger and Acquisition (M&A) cases in the higher education sector were guided by the methodological approach of the Chicago School of economic thought, whose central purpose can be summarized by the “consumer welfare standard”.
[Methodology/approach/design] Critics of the Chicago School say that antitrust authorities should be concerned with aspects such as quality and diversity, among others. Under these perspectives critical perspectives of antitrust law, combined with the regulatory theory of public interest, this article will analyze whether the decisions of M&A cases in the higher education sector, from 2001 to 2020, were guided by the consumer welfare standard. Critical approaches to antitrust law are linked to non-economic values connected to constitutional principles such as social justice, equal opportunities, and the supremacy of the public interest, which promote the protection of fundamental rights, including the right to higher education.
[Findings] Almost all higher education merger decisions were guided by the consumer welfare standard, implemented based on neoclassical theories of price, which practically does not include aspects such as quality, diversity, and does not focus on the competitive process and the structural dynamics of the sector.
[Practical implications] The historical analysis of M&As in the higher education sector, both in terms of data compilation and in terms of the analysis of the approaches adopted, can help critical discussions of the trajectory of CADE's judgments and guide new approaches to the decision making in future for-profit higher education sector M&As.
[Originality/value] The article contributes to the theoretical and empirical development of antitrust law by discussing the theoretical bases of the approaches adopted by the Brazilian antitrust authority and by proposing that new approaches should be guided by the principles and purposes of each sector.
Downloads
References
APPELBAUM, Binyamin. The economists’ hour: false prophets, free markets, and the fracture of society. New York, Boston, London: Little, Brown and Company, 2019.
ARANHA, Marcio Iorio. Manual de direito regulatório: fundamentos de direito regulatório. London: Laccademia Publishing, 2015, kindle edition.
BALDWIN, Robert; CAVE, Martin; LODGE, Martin (org.). The Oxford Handbook of Regulation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
BANERJEE, Abhijit; DUFLO, Esther. Good Economics for Hard Times. New York: Public Affairs, 2019.
BROWN, Wendy. Nas ruínas do neoliberalismo: a ascensão da política antidemocrática no ocidente. São Paulo: Editora Filosófica Politeia, 2019.
BUCHANAN, James M.; TOLLISON, Robert D. (org.). The Theory of Public Choice-II. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2009.
BUDZINSKI, Oliver. Monoculture versus diversity in competition economics. Marburg Papers on Economics, Marburg, n. 08, p. 01-34, 2007. Disponível em: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/29873/1/606248978.pdf.
CADE. Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica. Defesa da concorrência no Brasil: 50 anos. Brasília: Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica – CADE, 2013.
CADE. Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica. Cadernos do CADE: Atos de Concentração no Mercado de Prestação de Serviços de Ensino Superior. Brasília: Departamento de Estudos Econômicos – CADE, 2016. Disponível em: http://www.cade.gov.br/acesso-a-informacao/publicacoes-institucionais/dee-publicacoes-anexos/caderno-de-educacao-20-05-2016.pdf.
CARRUTHERS, Bruce G. Financialization and the institutional foundations of the new capitalism. Socio-Economic Review, Volume 13, Issue 2, April 2015, Pages 379–398. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwv008.
CARVALHO, Cristina Helena Almeida de. A mercantilização da educação superior brasileira e as estratégias de mercado das instituições lucrativas. Revista Brasileira de Educação, v. 18, n. 54, jul./set. 2013.
CASTRO, Bruno Braz de. Eficiência e rivalidade: alternativas para o direito da concorrência nos países em desenvolvimento. Tese (doutorado) – Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Faculdade de Direito, Belo Horizonte, 2017. Disponível em: https://repositorio.ufmg.br/bitstream/1843/BUOS-ASUFJG/1/bruno_braz_de_castro___vers_o_02.pdf.
CRANE, Daniel A. The tempting of antitrust: robert bork and the goals of antitrust policy. Antitrust L. J. 79, no. 3 (2014): 835-53. Disponível em: https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2549&context=articles.
CROLEY, Steven P. Regulation and Public Interests. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008.
DI PIETRO, Maria Sylvia Zanella. O princípio da supremacia do interesse público: sobrevivência diante dos ideais do neoliberalismo. In: DI PIETRO, Maria Sylvia Zanella & RIBEIRO, Carlos Vinicius Alves. Supremacia do interesse público e outros temas relevantes do Direito Administrativo. São Paulo: Editora Atlas, 2010.
EZRACHI, Ariel; STUCKE, Maurice. Virtual competition. The promise and perils of the algorithm-driven economy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2016.
FEINTUCK, Mike. Regulatory Rationales Beyond the Economic: In Search of the Public Interest. In: BALDWIN, Robert; CAVE, Martin; LODGE, Martin (org.). The Oxford Handbook of Regulation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
FEINTUCK, Mike. The Holy Grail or Just Another Empty Vessel? The Public Interest in Regulation. Inaugural Lectures, University of Hull, UK, Monday 21st February, 2005.
FERREIRA, Waldemar. O “trust” anglo-americano e o “fideicomisso" latino-americano. Revista da Faculdade de Direito da USP. 51/182-202. São Paulo: USP, jan.-dez. 1956.
FINE, B.; SAAD-FILHO, A. Thirteen Things You Need to Know About Neoliberalism. Critical Sociology, 2016.
FORGIONI, Paula A. Os fundamentos do antitruste. 5. ed. São Paulo: Revista dos Tribunais, 2012.
FOUCAULT, Michel. Nascimento da biopolítica. Lisboa: Edições 70, 2021.
FRIEDMAN, Milton. The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. New York Times, sept. 1970.
FURTADO, R. A. Regulação da Educação Superior: A Atuação Estatal e a Medida de Atendimento ao Interesse Público. Revista de Direito Setorial e Regulatório, Brasília, v. 3, n. 1, p. 199-220, maio de 2017.
GARCÍA, Miguel Ángel Sendín. Regulación y servicios públicos. Granada: Editorial Comares, 2003.
GROTTI, Dinorá Adelaide Musetti. Teoria dos serviços públicos e sua transformação. In: SUNDFELD, Carlos Ari. Direito Administrativo Econômico. São Paulo: Malheiros, 2002.
GUTTMANN, Robert. Uma introdução ao capitalismo dirigido pelas finanças. Novos Estudos, São Paulo: CEBRAP, n. 82, p. 11-33, nov. 2008.
HARDING, Robin. How Warren Buffett broke American capitalism. Financial Times, 2017. Disponível em: https://www.ft.com/content/fd27245a-9790-11e7-a652-cde3f882dd7b.
HARVEY, David. O neoliberalismo: história e implicações. São Paulo: Edições Loyola, 2011.
HOFSTADTER, Richard; GRAY, Wood. Panorama da história dos Estados Unidos. Agência de Comunicação Internacional dos Estados Unidos da América, 1985.
HOPER EDUCAÇÃO. Análise Setorial da Educação Superior Privada – Brasil 2016. Foz do Iguaçu: Hoper Educação, 2016.
INEP. Censo da Educação Superior: notas estatísticas 2019. Brasília, 2019. Disponível em: https://download.inep.gov.br/educacao_superior/censo_superior/documentos/2020/Notas_Estatisticas_Censo_da_Educacao_Superior_2019.pdf.
INEP. Censo da Educação Superior 2020: notas estatísticas. Brasília, 2022. Disponível em: https://download.inep.gov.br/publicacoes/institucionais/estatisticas_e_indicadores/notas_estatisticas_censo_da_educacao_superior_2020.pdf.
JUSTEN FILHO, Marçal. Serviço Público no Direito Brasileiro. In: CARDOZO, José Eduardo Martins. Curso de Direito Administrativo Econômico. São Paulo: Malheiros, 2006.
KHAN, Lina M. Amazon's Antitrust Paradox. The Yale Law Journal, 2017. Disponível em: https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/ylj/vol126/iss3/3.
KHAN, Lina M. New Tools to Promote Competition. Democracy, 2016. Disponível em: https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/42/new-tools-to-promote-competition/.
KOVACIC, William E.; SHAPIRO, Carl. Antitrust policy: a century of economic and legal thinking. Journal of Economic Perspectives, v. 14, n. 1, p. 43–60, 2000. Disponível em: https://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/shapiro/century.pdf.
KRIPPNER, G. R. The Financialization of the American Economy. Socio-economic Review, 3, 2005, 173-208.
KWOKA, John. Controlling mergers and market power: a program for reviving antitrust in America. Competition Policy International, 2020.
LAO, Marina. Ideology matters in the Antitrust debate. Antitrust Law Journal. Vol. 79, n. 2, 2014.
LEBBOS, Carolina Moura. Divisão de competências e articulação entre reguladores setoriais e órgãos de defesa da concorrência [Seção do Livro] // in: Direito concorrencial e regulação econômica. MOREIRA, Egon Bockmann e MATTOS, Paulo Todescan Lessa. - Belo Horizonte: Fórum, 2010.
LOECKER, Jan de; EECKHOUT, Jan; UNGER, Gabriel. The rise of market power and the macroeconomics implications. The Quarterly Journal of Economics. Vol. 135, Issue 2, 2020. Disponível em: http://www.janeeckhout.com/wp-content/uploads/26.pdf.
MAZZUCATO, Mariana. O valor de tudo: produção e apropriação na economia global. São Paulo: Portfolio-Penguin, 2020.
McCRAW, Thomas K. Prophets of regulation. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1984.
MIROWSKI, Philip. The political movement that dared not speak its own name: the neoliberal thought collective under erasure. Institute for New Economic Thinking, working paper n. 23, sep. 2014. Disponível em: https://www.ineteconomics.org/uploads/papers/WP23-Mirowski.pdf.
NUNES, António José Avelãs. Neoliberalismo e direitos humanos. Lisboa: Editorial Caminho, 2003.
OLIVEIRA, Romualdo Pereira de. A transformação da educação em mercadoria no Brasil. Educação & Sociedade, Campinas: CEDES, v. 30, n. 108, p. 739-760, out. 2009.
PAIVA. Giovanni Silva. Recortes da formação docente da educação superior brasileira: aspectos pedagógicos, econômicos e cumprimento de requisitos legais. In: Ensaio: avaliação de políticas públicas educacionais. Rio de Janeiro, v. 18, 2010.
PHILIPPON, Thomas. The great reversal: how America gave up on free markets. Cambridge and London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2019.
PISTOR, Katharina. The code of capital: how law creates wealth and inequality. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2019. Kindle Edition.
RANIERI, Nina Beatriz. Educação superior, direito e estado: na lei de diretrizes e bases (Lei nº 9.394/96). São Paulo: Editora da Universidade de São Paulo, Fapesp, 2000.
RODRIK, Dani. Populism and the economics of globalization. Journal of International Business Policy 1 (1–2): 12–33, 2018. Disponível em: https://drodrik.scholar.harvard.edu/files/dani-rodrik/files/populism_and_the_economics_of_globalization.pdf.
SELDESLACHTS, Jo; CLOUGHERTY, Joseph A.; BARROS, Pedro Pita. Settle for Now but Block for Tomorrow: The Deterrence Effects of Merger Policy Tools. 2008. Disponível em: ftp://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/veranstaltungen/rnic/papers/JoSeldeslachts.pdf.
STEINBAUM, Marshall; STUCKE, Maurice E. The Effective Competition Standard: A New Standard for Antitrust. University of Chicago Law Review: Vol. 87: Iss. 2, Article 11, 2020. Disponível em: https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclrev/vol87/iss2/11.
STIGLITZ, Joseph E. Government Failure vs. Market Failure: Principles of Regulation. In: BALLEISEN, Edward; MOSS, David (ed.). Government and Markets: Toward a New Theory of Regulation. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
STUCKE, Maurice; EZRACHI, Ariel. The rise, fall, and rebirth of the U.S. antitrust movement. Harvard Business Review, 2017. Disponível em: file:///Users/furtado/Library/Mobile%20Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/Doutorado/Stucke%3BEzrachi_Rise,%20Fall,%20Rebirth%20U.S.%20Antitrust%20Movement.webarchive.
SUNSTEIN, Cass. After the Rights Revolution: Reconceiving the Regulatory State. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990.
TEPPER, Jonathan; HEARN, Denise. The myth of capitalism. Monopolies and the death of competition. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2019.
THOMAS, Ann Van Wynen. Note on the Origin of Uses and Trusts – WAQFS. 3 SW L.J. 162, 1949.
TOCQUEVILLE, Alexis de. Da democracia na América. Rio de Janeiro: Biblioteca do Exército, 1998.
TWAIN, Mark; WARNER, Charles Dudley. The gilded age: a tale of today. New York and London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1915. Disponível em: https://www.google.com.br/books/edition/The_Gilded_Age/ARUmAAAAMAAJ?hl=pt-BR&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover.
VIEIRA DE CARVALHO, Carlos Eduardo. Regulação de serviços públicos. Belo Horizonte: Del Rey, 2007.
WRIGHT, Joshua D.; DORSEY, Elyse; RYBNICEK, Jan; KLICK, Jonathan. Requiem for a Paradox: The Dubious Rise and Inevitable Fall of Hipster Antitrust. George Mason Law & Economics Research Paper No. 18-29, Arizona State Law Journal, 2019.
WU, Tim. The curse of bigness: antitrust in the new gilded age. New York: Columbia Global Reports, 2018.
YALE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, Thurman Arnold Project at Yale, Antitrust Enforcement Data. Modern U.S. antitrust theory and evidence amid rising concerns of market power and its effects: an overview of recent academic literature, 2020. Disponível em: https://som.yale.edu/faculty-research-centers/centers-initiatives/thurman-arnold-project-at-yale/antitrust-enforcement-data-0
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Journal of Law and Regulation
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
By submitting this paper to the Journal of Law and Regulation, I hereby declare that I agree to the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0.
