CHAPTER 9

Legal and Ethical Issues

Legal Issues Surrounding Price Discrimination

We would be remiss if we did not discuss the legal issues surrounding price discrimination. At face value, the Robinson–Patman Act of 1936 appears to declare price discrimination illegal. However, the language in Sec. 2(a) bars price discrimination only if its intent is anticompetitive in nature:

It shall be unlawful for any person engaged in commerce, in the course of such commerce, either directly or indirectly, to discriminate in price between different purchasers of commodities of like grade and quality, where either or any of the purchases involved in such discrimination are in commerce, where such commodities are sold for use, consumption, or resale within ...

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