Consumer-citizens and Competition Policy in the Era of Supermarketisation

24 Pages Posted: 9 Mar 2020

See all articles by Jane Dixon

Jane Dixon

Australian National University (ANU)

Caron Beaton-Wells

Melbourne Law School

Jo Paul-Taylor

University of Melbourne - Melbourne Law School

Date Written: March 9, 2020

Abstract

There is a burgeoning body of consumer scholarship that identifies a consumer-citizen identity, reconstructing the consumer as a social and political actor and not just an economic actor. In food systems dominated by supermarkets, some hail the coming of the consumer-citizen as an antidote to the power of large retailers. Drawing on an empirical study of the Australian grocery sector, this paper interrogates the claim that consumer-citizenry will fulfil this promise. It emphasises the need for tempering any optimism in this regard, taking account of the impact of socio-economic constraints facing most consumers, and for which the supermarkets must be held in part responsible. The paper explores the role of government in supporting citizen-inspired consumer concerns and argues that the prevailing adherence to a neo-liberal paradigm of managing markets explains why thus far the state has failed in providing this support. Using a focus on competition regulation, the paper concludes that market-related policies need to be sensitive to the social effects of concentration, on inequality in particular, and that in the face of substantial private economic power, faith in self-regulation and self-correcting markets is misplaced.

Keywords: supermarkets, Australia, competition law

JEL Classification: K00, K29

Suggested Citation

Dixon, Jane and Beaton Wells, Caron Y. and Paul-Taylor, Jo, Consumer-citizens and Competition Policy in the Era of Supermarketisation (March 9, 2020). U of Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper No. 872, 2020, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3550935 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3550935

Jane Dixon

Australian National University (ANU) ( email )

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601
Australia

Caron Y. Beaton Wells (Contact Author)

Melbourne Law School ( email )

University Square
185 Pelham Street, Carlton
Victoria, Victoria 3010
Australia

HOME PAGE: http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/staff/Caron%20Beaton%2DWells

Jo Paul-Taylor

University of Melbourne - Melbourne Law School ( email )

185 Pelham Street
Melbourne, VIC 3010
Australia

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