Confucian Culture and Competition Law in East Asia

This timely book explores the relevance of culture in the development and practice of competition law in East Asia, shedding light on differences that may present challenges to deeper convergence of competition laws between East and West. Interested readers will include legal scholars, practitioners and competition agency officials.

Competition law is a significant legal transplant in East Asia, where it has come into contact with deeply rooted variants of Confucian culture. This timely volume analyses cultural factors in mainland China, Japan and Korea, focusing on their shared but diversely evolved Confucian heritage. These factors distinguish the competition law systems of these countries from those of major western jurisdictions, in terms of the goals served by the law, the way enforcement is structured, and the way subjects of the law respond to it. Concepts from cultural studies inform a new and eclectic perspective on these dynamics, with the authors also drawing on ideas from law and economics, comparative law, East Asian studies, political science, business management and ethics, and institutional economics. The volume presents a model for cultural analysis of comparative legal topics and contributes to a greater understanding of the challenges to deeper convergence of competition laws between East and West.