competition policy

competition policy, public policy aimed at ensuring that competition is not restricted or undermined in ways that are detrimental to the economy and society. It is predicated upon the idea that competitive markets are central to investment, efficiency, innovation, and growth.

Competition policy emerged in the United States in the late 19th century, when it became apparent that competition was prompting larger firms to try to lessen competitive pressures through the formation of cartels, with detrimental effects on smaller firms and consumers. Consequently, in the United States it is more usually referred to as antitrust policy. Since the 1990s, competition policy’s importance has increased, both in its spread to ever more segments of the economy and in its prominence as a policy tool.

There are three main areas traditionally covered by competition policy: restrictive practices, monopolies, and mergers. Restrictive practices—for instance, collusion by competitor firms to fix prices—are generally prohibited under competition policy, though this is not the case with all collaboration. It is increasingly common for even the largest multinational firms to collaborate with competitors in areas such as research and development. With monopolies, it is the abuse of a monopoly position, rather than its existence per se, that is addressed through policy. The regulation of privatized utilities illustrates this point clearly. The transfer of large numbers of state-owned utilities into the private sector necessitated regulatory strategies to maintain the benefits of economies of scale associated with a monopoly network provider, while combining this with the introduction of competition where possible. Mergers have traditionally been the most controversial, and consequently, the most politicized, of the areas of competition policy, not least because the judgment required as to whether a particular merger will result in a damaging reduction in competition that outweighs any potential benefits is, frequently, debatable.

A notable development in competition policy is the trend toward devolving responsibility for its implementation to independent agencies, at arm’s length from government (though the degree of independence varies considerably). This is perhaps best explained as an attempt to “depoliticize” competition policy—to make it, or at least to make it appear, neutral, predictable, and rules-based and not subject to the short-term concerns of elected politicians. However, it has also increased the influence that those agencies have on the development of policy and its implementation as their expertise has grown.

Where once competition policy was contrasted with regulation—the idea of the promotion of competition was diametrically opposed to regulation in the eyes of many—the distinction is now less clear-cut. As the example of the privatized utilities shows, there is no strict boundary between the two. However, competition agencies can be distinguished from industry-specific regulators. The former are responsible for policy throughout the entire economy, setting overall policy, and normally have a reactive role in responding to suspected breaches; industry regulators have a far-narrower scope but greater powers to establish preventive rules. This prompted the distinction between regulation of competition and regulation for competition.