Dear Albert C-L LIN, I can only give you the Japanese case. In the 1950s and the 1960s, Japan's MITI (Ministry of International Trade and Industry) often used the concept of 'excessive competition' for the foundation of MITI's policies such as 'industrial structure policy' to maintain 'economic order and well-being' in Japan's economy. It was certainly against the sprit of antitrust and supported cartels (especially during recessions). In the 1970s, MITI's skeptical philosophy toward competition received attention from abroad. In the 1980s, it was criticized by American scholars in the 1980s. MITI has become METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) since 2001 when the central ministries and agencies were institutionally reformed. It does not put much emphasis on international trade, especially the promotion of exports, any more. Well, I have heard that some MITI officials paid attention to the French government's economic policy and followed its ideas after 1960. I did not know about the German roots for the concept of 'excessive competition'. But I wonder if it might have something to do with the so-called Fuhrer system. There are several references on the Japanese case. P. Trezise's chapter in H. Patrick and H. Rosovsky eds (1976) _Asia's New Giant._ Washington D.C. Brookings Institution. Johnson, C. (1982). _MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy, 1925-1975_. Stanford: Stanford Univ Press. A. Ikeo, (Japanese) Economists and Economic Policies A. Noguchi, External Liberalization and 'Industrial Structure Policy' In _Japanese Economics and Economists since 1945_ edited by A. Ikeo. London: Routledge, 2000. Sincerely, Aiko Ikeo