(Disclaimer: I’m not an antitrust lawyer, not that I can give anyone legal advice on the Forum anyway. Also, this is a US perspective.)
The basic principle is that agreements “in restraint of trade” are illegal, with that term interpreted by reference to a “rule of reason” developed through over a century of caselaw. Neither student admissions nor employee hiring are really in the heartland of antitrust, although it has been applied to both in the past.
I don’t see how admissions and hiring are that different when it comes to determining whether use of a common application form would be in restraint of trade (i.e., whether it unreasonably impedes fair competition). I’m also unclear on what a good argument would be for an assertion that using the same first-stage application would unreasonably impede fair competition for employees in the first place. I’d argue that it would promote competition in the market for employees, by making it easier for employees to apply to more potential employers. But I didn’t dig into any caselaw on that.
(Disclaimer: I’m not an antitrust lawyer, not that I can give anyone legal advice on the Forum anyway. Also, this is a US perspective.)
The basic principle is that agreements “in restraint of trade” are illegal, with that term interpreted by reference to a “rule of reason” developed through over a century of caselaw. Neither student admissions nor employee hiring are really in the heartland of antitrust, although it has been applied to both in the past.
I don’t see how admissions and hiring are that different when it comes to determining whether use of a common application form would be in restraint of trade (i.e., whether it unreasonably impedes fair competition). I’m also unclear on what a good argument would be for an assertion that using the same first-stage application would unreasonably impede fair competition for employees in the first place. I’d argue that it would promote competition in the market for employees, by making it easier for employees to apply to more potential employers. But I didn’t dig into any caselaw on that.