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Books Are Not Different After All: Observations on the Formal Ending of the Net Book Agreement in the UK

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  • Michael Utton

Abstract

By the begining of 1997 resale price maintenance was legally enforceable on only two groups of products in the UK, books and non-prescription medicines. The Net Book Agreement had been in existence substantially unchanged, for close on 100 years. It amounted to a horizontal agreement amongst publishers to maintain a vertical restraint on resale prices. The Restrictive Practices Court in 1962 had accepted that the abandonment of the Agreement would deprive the public of a substantial benefit and that, therefore, it could be retained. By the late 1990s, however, the Court was persuaded that there had been a material change of circumstances in the industry (in production costs, in the length of economic production runs, and in the structure of retailing) and that as a result, the arguments accepted in 1962 were no longer valid. In particular, the main supporter of the Agreement, the Publishers Association, had decided it could no longer defend it. The Court decided that the Agreement should be struck down.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Utton, 2000. "Books Are Not Different After All: Observations on the Formal Ending of the Net Book Agreement in the UK," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 115-126.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ijecbs:v:7:y:2000:i:1:p:115-126
    DOI: 10.1080/13571510084096
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marvel, Howard P. & McCafferty, Stephen, 1996. "Comparing vertical restraints," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(5), pages 473-486, December.
    2. Pickering, J F, 1974. "The Abolition of Resale Price Maintenance in Great Britain," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 26(1), pages 120-146, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Alexandra Kontolaimou & Pródromos-Ioánnis Prodromídis & Ioanna Konstantakopoulou, 2019. "The issue of fixed book pricing: Evidence based on the Greek experience," Cyprus Economic Policy Review, University of Cyprus, Economics Research Centre, vol. 13(2), pages 102-120, December.
    2. Silvi Berger & Morten Hviid, 2019. "Who Should Set Book Prices?," Working Paper series, University of East Anglia, Centre for Competition Policy (CCP) 2019-07, Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    3. Knorr Andreas & Schulz Christina, 2004. "Die Neuregelung der Buchpreisbindung in Deutschland – Eine wettbewerbspolitische Analyse," ORDO. Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, De Gruyter, vol. 55(1), pages 235-268, January.
    4. Takahiro Endo, 2015. "Legal Structure, Business Organisations and Lobbying: The JapanesePublishing Sector, 1990-2001," Discussion Paper Series DP2015-19, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University, revised Mar 2017.

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