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SUMMARY:Antitrust policies and their effects on the development of the Ame
 rican film industry (1900-1960) - Alberto López Artacho (University of Ba
 rcelona)
DTSTART:20250520T150000Z
DTEND:20250520T160000Z
UID:TALK232549@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:116791
DESCRIPTION:In 1948\, the United States Supreme Court found the most power
 ful Hollywood studios guilty of violating antitrust laws and ordered the d
 ivestiture of their movie theatres. During the trial\, the major studios c
 laimed that the accusations of restraint of trade and monopolization broug
 ht by the Department of Justice were baseless and contended that the alleg
 ed anticompetitive practices responded to the specific characteristics of 
 the industry's business model. The defendants argued that their dominance 
 was obtained and maintained thanks to efficiency criteria and because they
  could offer more attractive films at more reasonable prices than their co
 mpetitors. In recent years\, several studies have emerged aligning with th
 ese positions. However\, these analyses ignore economic and political aspe
 cts that were essential for the antitrust institutions to initiate the inv
 estigation.\nMy thesis aims to investigate the impact of antitrust policie
 s on the development of the United States film industry. To achieve this o
 bjective\, I analyze how antitrust institutions have historically addresse
 d anticompetitive behaviors in the film industry. The selection of the fil
 m industry as a case study is not arbitrary\, given its long-standing rela
 tionship with antitrust institutions. Furthermore\, as a mass-market enter
 tainment industry\, cinema can reach all levels of society and therefore h
 as constantly faced political interference attempting to influence it.\nBy
  examining the American film industry\, I aim to contribute to the discuss
 ion on how state institutions should intervene in the economy to regulate 
 a market suspected of being anticompetitive. The main proposition of this 
 thesis is that\, to promote free competition within an industry\, economic
  factors are as significant as political ones. Therefore\, the scope of an
 titrust policies should extend beyond economic elements to encompass polit
 ical actions that restrain free competition\, such as the excessive concen
 tration of private power or moral and ideological censorship.\nIn the firs
 t section of the thesis\, which follows a traditional structure with chapt
 ers\, I have analyzed the activities of antitrust institutions from an eco
 nomic perspective. I argue that the approaches based on the self-regulatio
 n of the market and the efficiency of its conduct\, as well as on consumer
  welfare standard\, are ineffective in promoting market competition. The i
 nitial findings show that it not only contributes to perpetuating market p
 ower but also facilitates the emergence and consolidation of new anticompe
 titive behaviors that led to a systematic reduction of competition over de
 cades. 
LOCATION:Room 12\, Faculty of History (and on Microsoft Teams)
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