미국과 한국의 가격담합: 법적 체계, 처벌 및 영향 비교를 중심으로

Abstract

One of the gravest forms of corporate crime is price fixing, whose consequences ultimately have a direct impact on the individual consumer. Thus, governments must take on monitoring, inquiring, and prosecuting anticompetitive practices in order to protect both the consumer and the idea of free and open competition. However, the extent to which anticompetitive legislation is enforced varies greatly from country to country. In particular, South Korea, a country with a considerable history of both international and domestic price fixing activities, calls for examination. And the United States serves as a point for comparison, for the country is the nexus of global trade and world markets. This paper seeks to identify the discrepancies between the two countries in addressing price fixing as a legal issue, demonstrating how such discrepancies serve to explain why price fixing scandals have become a more pedestrian phenomenon in South Korea. The paper illustrates that although the two countries have a few similarities, their respective legal frameworks are structurally stark in contrast, which explains why deterring illegal practices in the United States is far more effective than doing so in Korea.