Anu Bradford
Henry L. Moses Professor of Law and International Organization
Department: School of Law
Colleges / Universities: Columbia University
Contact
435 West 116th Street
Jerome Greene Hall, Room 927
New York NY 10027
Email: abradf@law.columbia.edu
Website: Columbia faculty profile
Anu Bradford is the Henry L. Moses Professor of Law and International Organization at Columbia Law School. She is also a director for the European Legal Studies Center. Professor Bradford is an expert in international trade law and antitrust law. Her research and teaching focus on international trade law, European Union law, and comparative and international antitrust law.
A leading scholar on the EU’s regulatory power and a sought-after commentator on the European Union and Brexit, Professor Bradford coined the term the Brussels Effect to describe the European Union’s outsize influence on global markets. Most recently, she is the author of The Brussels Effect: How the European Union Rules the World (2020). As an expert in international trade law and antitrust law, Professor Bradford spearheads the Comparative Competition Law Project, which has built a comprehensive global data set of antitrust laws and enforcement across time and jurisdictions. The project, a joint effort between the Columbia Law School and the University of Chicago Law School, covers more than a century of regulation in over 100 countries and has been the basis for Professor Bradford’s recent empirical research on the antitrust regimes used to regulate markets.
Professor Bradford has practiced EU and antitrust law in Brussels and has served as an adviser on economic policy in the Parliament of Finland and as an expert assistant at the European Parliament. In 2010, Professor Bradford was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. She is a member of the New York bar and is qualified to practice law in Finland.
Degrees
S.J.D. Harvard Law School, 2007
LL.M. Harvard Law School, 2002
Recent Academic Article Summaries
The Brussels Effect: How the European Union Rules the World
Popular commentators often predict the failure of the European Union (EU), but data shows that the European Union exercises global regulatory power and enjoys continued relevance.
EU regulations shape markets worldwide. The rise of China challenges the EU’s global influence.
The Global Dominance of European Competition Law Over American Antitrust Law
The European Union (EU) and the United States differ in their approach to competition law. Worldwide, more nations emulate the EU's approach.
Worldwide, regulatory standards are converging on a European standard.
Sharing the Risks and Rewards of Economic Migration
To encourage nations to reduce limits on migration, policymakers should create a “Migration Fund.” Funds could be used to compensate source countries for “brain drain,” and to compensate destination countries for losses arising when immigrants fail to find work or must be deported.
Limits on immigration such as quotas are harmful. Everyone would be better off if migration limits were reduced.
Exporting Standards: The Externalization of the EU's Regulatory Power via Markets
The European Union (EU) exports power and influence to the rest of the world through its legal institutions and standards. Global commerce has become “Europeanized.” This trend is an inadvertent byproduct of the EU’s effort to create a single market, not “regulatory imperialism.”
When other nation’s laws are too lax, the “Brussels Effect” is beneficial. But when the EU’s laws are too strict, adoption of European standards by other nations is harmful.
Competition Policy and Free Trade: Antitrust Provisions in PTAs
Why do preferential trade agreements (PTAs) include terms concerning antitrust or competition policy? Some argue that governments use competition policy to protect local firms against foreign competition. A better theory is that trade makes it hard for national authorities to enforce competition policy.
Many PTAs include terms promoting cooperation between nations in enforcing competition policy. Such terms are intended to enhance enforcement efforts.
Blog Posts
Quotes in the News
Bradford, A. (2022, March 24). The New York Times.“It is possible that even the U.S. Congress will now conclude that they are done watching from the sidelines when the E.U. regulates U.S. tech companies and will move from talking about legislative reform to actually legislating.”
Anu Bradford
Henry L. Moses Professor of Law and International Organization
School of Law
Columbia University
Bradford, A. (2020, December 21). Taipei Times.The stakes for the big tech giants are particularly high because EU regulations often have a global impact — a phenomenon known as the “Brussels effect.”
Anu Bradford
Henry L. Moses Professor of Law and International Organization
School of Law
Columbia University
Bradford, A. (2019, February 8). CNN.“In many ways, they are internally breaking up Facebook by limiting how they do business, how the different services interact. It's not a breakup, but it is certainly ramping up the pressure. The Commission doesn't have the power itself to go after Facebook on privacy grounds, but it has plenty of powers under competition law.”
Anu Bradford
Henry L. Moses Professor of Law and International Organization
School of Law
Columbia University
Bradford, A. (2018, May 24). Time.“There [is] this misperception that it’s a protectionist response, but the roots are much deeper. We trace them back to World War II and the atrocities of the Nazis, who systematically abused private data to identify Jews and other minority groups.”
Anu Bradford
Henry L. Moses Professor of Law and International Organization
School of Law
Columbia University
Bradford, A. (2013, January 13). The Globalist.“Few Americans are aware that EU regulations determine the cosmetics they apply in the morning, the cereal they eat for breakfast, the software they use on their computer, as well as the privacy settings they adjust on their Facebook page. And that's just before 8:30 a.m.”
Anu Bradford
Henry L. Moses Professor of Law and International Organization
School of Law
Columbia University
Related Scholars
Austan Goolsbee
Colleges / Universities: University of Chicago
Barbara van Schewick
Colleges / Universities: Stanford University
C. Scott Hemphill
Colleges / Universities: New York University
Carl Shapiro
Colleges / Universities: University of California, Berkeley
