Economic Development, Poverty, and Antitrust: The Other Path
Southwestern Journal of Law and Trade in the Americas, Vol. 13, p. 211, 2007
26 Pages Posted: 26 Jul 2007 Last revised: 30 May 2008
Abstract
Developed countries often insist that antitrust is only for efficiency and consumer welfare, and that any broader focus will protect small competitors and mire the economy in inefficiencies. Developing countries retort that their antitrust must also address issues of distribution and power.
This article contests the standard Western claim that if conduct cannot be shown to raise prices to consumers it must be efficient and should be beyond antitrust challenge. It also argues that developing countries need a broader standard than whether conduct decreases aggregate consumer or total wealth. Developing country antitrust should not be used to protect inefficient Davids against Goliath, but it may and should be used to empower Davids against Goliath by keeping open paths of mobility and access. Indeed, enhanced mobility tends to produce efficiencies in societies in which economic opportunity of masses of people has been suppressed. An antitrust law for developing countries that values mobility, access and efficient development of the economy, while not protecting small firms at the expense of consumers, is The Other Path of the title to this article. The article articulates principles, factors and strategies that give content to this other path.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
Competition Law as Market Discipline
By Hiau Looi Kee and Bernard Hoekman
-
Imports, Entry and Competition Law as Market Disciplines
By Bernard Hoekman and Hiau Looi Kee
-
Imports, Entry, and Competition Law as Market Disciplines
By Bernard Hoekman and Hiau Looi Kee
-
Does More Intense Competition Lead to Higher Growth?
By Aydin Hayri and Mark Dutz
-
Markups, Entry Regulation, and Trade: Does Country Size Matter?
By Bernard Hoekman, Marcelo Olarreaga, ...
-
Mark-Ups, Entry Regulation and Trade: Does Country Size Matter?
By Bernard Hoekman, Hiau Looi Kee, ...
-
The Economic Effects of Competition Policy: Cross-Country Evidence Using Four New Indicators
By Stefan Voigt
-
Firms' Price Markups and Returns to Scale in Imperfect Markets: Bulgaria and Hungary
By R. Dobrinsky, Laszlo Halpern, ...