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COMMENTS ON MARVEL: HOW FAIR IS FAIR TRADE?
Author(s) -
SHARP BENJAMIN S.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
contemporary economic policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.454
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1465-7287
pISSN - 1074-3529
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-7287.1985.tb00806.x
Subject(s) - economics , principle of legality , fair trade , public policy , law and economics , public economics , law , international trade , political science , economic growth
Each of the papers in this symposium concludes with policy recommendations regarding the legality of resale price maintenance (RPM). The legal standard used to judge RPM affects the entire universe of manufacturer control over resale prices. Therefore, policy recommendations are valid only to the extent that the proffered economic theory applies to a substantial portion of that universe. My comments focus primarily on how much of the RPM universe is addressed by Marvel's (1985) explanations in “How Fair is Fair Trade?” If an economic theory, no matter how interesting academically, describes only a small minority of RPM instances, it should not form the basis for public policy.