COMPETITION
ASSESSMENT OF LAWS
AND REGULATIONS
OECD Tools and Experience
III Ukrainian Antitrust Forum
Federica Maiorano, OECD Competition Division
31 May 2017
Agenda
What is competition assessment?
What is the Competition Assessment Toolkit?
Some examples from international experience
2
What is competition assessment?
• Competition assessment of laws and
regulations
– Identify regulatory restraints to competition
– Develop alternative, less restrictive policies
that still achieve government objectives
• In practice
• What? Scope of the review
• When? Ex ante / ex post
• By whom? Institutional set up
3
Why competition assessment?
• Rules and regulations typically have
desirable socio-economic objectives
– But also the potential to harm the efficient
functioning of markets
Changes in
technology
and market
conditions
More
market in
regulated
industries
Better
regulation,
better
economic
outcomes
4
The benefits - Lifting regulatory
restrictions
Note: By how much GDP would be higher, long-term, if economies implemented product market
reforms. It is assumed that product market reforms move each economy's regulations gradually
towards best practice, as measured by the OECD Product Market Regulation indicator.
Source: OECD (2013), OECD Economic Outlook, Vol. 2013/1, OECD Publishing.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eco_outlook-v2013-1-en; 10.1787/eco_outlook-v2013-1-graph161-en
5
OECD Competition Assessment Toolkit
• The “Principles” volume
– Principles, describing benefits of competition and
the checklist
• The “Guidance” volume
– Detailed technical guidance on key issues to
consider in competition assessment
• The “Manual” volume
– Step-by-step guide for performing competition
assessment
Initial screening – four groups of
questions
• Do the rules/regulations limit the number
or range of suppliers?
• Do the rules/regulations limit the ability of
suppliers to compete?
• Do the rules/regulations limit the
incentives for suppliers to compete?
• Do the rules/regulations limit the choices
and/or information available to
consumers?
IDENTIFY POLICIES TO ASSESS
Step 1
APPLY CHECKLIST
Step 2
ANY COMPETITION DISTORTION?
YES
NO
IDENTIFY POLICY OBJECTIVE
STOP
Step 3
IS THE RESTRICTION PROPORTIONAL ?
NO
YES
STATUS QUO
Step 4
LOOK for
ALTERNATIVE
SELECT BEST OPTION
IMPLEMENT BEST OPTION
Step 5
STOP
EX-POST ASSESSMENT
Step 6
8
Detailed review potentially leading to
recommendations
• Objective of regulation
• Identifying alternatives
– E.g. international experience, sector experts,
industry stakeholders
• Selecting among alternatives
– Qualitative, e.g. arguments based on economic
literature or studies
– Quantitative, e.g. consumer benefits / surplus
based on estimated effects in another countries /
markets, customised analysis estimating impact
Examples of Pro-Competitive Initiatives in
Reviews of Existing Rules and Regulations
•
•
•
•
•
Australia (Hilmer process in mid-90s)
UK (Guidelines on Competition Assessment)
Korea
European Commission
Greece, Romania, Portugal and Mexico
(direct OECD involvement)
– Review of all relevant sector legislation in a
number of industries, e.g. retail, wholesale trade,
construction
10
A variety of processes and institutional
settings
• Directly engage with the policy development process
– E.g. competition assessment, advocacy
• One-off assessment, or system to challenge
regulations
– E.g. multi-market commission independent from
government and competition authority
• Flexible methodology
– OECD toolkit helpful in the application of a wide
variety of Competition Assessment processes
Source: 2014 OECD report, based on a survey of over 30 countries
http://www.oecd.org/daf/competition/Comp-Assessment-ImplementationReport2014.pdf
11
Thank you
http://www.oecd.org/competition/toolkit