Development of Corporate Reorganization and Reform of Merger Control

本研究的目的在于重新审视《反垄断法》中的合并控制原则，以便对近年来日益增多的大型企业合并进行适当的规制。这些问题主要集中在《关于合并控制的几个基本问题的说明》一文中。本文对2003财年的研究结果进行了总结，从竞争法和竞争政策的角度来看，通过合并创造或增强市场力量无疑是反竞争的，应该禁止这种合并。赋予市场力量是控制并购的主要依据之一，但这并不足以构成监管的理论依据。如果应该谴责创造或加强市场力量本身，那么通过以业绩为基础的竞争为基础的企业的内部增长创造或加强市场力量，以及外部增长，即合并，也应该受到谴责。然而，该法律并不禁止通过内部增长创造或加强市场力量。合并扩大了合并公司的规模和/或范围。但这种扩张并不取决于基于表现的竞争。合并带来了合并公司的增长，而不需要在商品或服务市场上进行竞争的考验。合并也可以被视为一种消极的竞争方法，这可能是合并控制的另一个主要和理论基础。因此，合并管制无须考虑合并公司扩大规模及/或业务范围所带来的效率改善。此外，关于实质性监管标准，澄清了需要证明使用市场力的具体进展。随后的研究结果将于2005年11月或更晚公布。

The purpose of this research is to reexamine the principle of merger control of Antimonopoly Law, in order to regulate appropriately mergers of huge undertakings which are increasing recently. The problems are chiefly taken up in the article of "A note on some basic problems regarding merger control". The article is a summary of the result of the research in 2003 fiscal year.From the standpoint of competition law and policy, the creation or strengthening of market power by merger is undoubtedly anti-competitive, and such a merger should be prohibited. Affording market power is the one of the principal bases for controlling mergers, but it is insufficient for theoretic basis of the regulation. If creation or strengthening of market power in itself should be condemned, creation or strengthening of market power by internal growth of an undertaking grounded on performance-based competition should be also condemned as well as by external growth, i.e. merger. The law, however, does not prohibit creation or strengthening of market power by internal growth. Mergers create enlargement of scale and/or scope of the merging firms. But the enlargement does not rest upon performance-based competition. Mergers invite the growth of merging firms without the test of competition at the market of goods or services. Mergers might also be regarded negatively as a method of competition, and this might be another principal and theoretical basis for merger control. For that reason, it is not necessary to take the improvement in efficiency, which is brought about by expansion of scale and/or scope of business of the merging firms, into consideration for merger control. In addition, about the substantive regulation standard, it is clarified that proof of concrete progress of use of market power has been required.The subsequent result of the research is due to be published in November 2005 or later.