For a long time it has been assumed that the search for profits was inseparable from the
carrying on of an economic activity which could not be imagined absent the profit-maximizing
motive. Nowadays the role of nonprofit organizations as economic actors operating in a
competitive market is well recognized. Therefore these organizations are no longer a priori
excluded from the application of competition law. The current United States European and
German rules of competition however do not contain specific provisions for nonprofit market
actors which are treated like other profit-maximizing undertakings regardless of their social
goals and nonprofit status. In the attempt of filling this gap this study focuses on
nonprofits' infra-sector competition. Though a comparative cross-country analysis the study
discusses the legal and economic implications of the enforcement of competition law against
nonprofit organizations and suggests some possible legal normative criteria which could
facilitate the future applicability of these norms to not-for-profit entities.
