How to and How Not to Introduce Competition Law and Policy in Transitional and Developing Economies

Author(s):  
Frank Emmert
Author(s):  
Ioannis Lianos

The chapter offers a critical analysis of the call for policy convergence in Competition Law. This merely emanates from the global business community and enables established Competition Law regimes, such as those of the United States and Europe, to influence the convergence point and take ownership of the process. This does not take into account the different patterns of diffusion of Competition Law and consequently the variety of Competition Law systems globally. The chapter castigates the lack of participation in this global deliberative space of emergent and developing economies and the inability of various affected interests, beyond global businesses and to a limited extent consumers, to be considered. Taking a participation-centered approach, the chapter argues that global antitrust governance should not aim to policy convergence as such, but to increasing levels of ‘total trust’. Establishing a BRICS Joint Research Platform in Competition Law could a first step in this process.


This book presents a new stage in the contributions of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) to the development of Competition Law and policy. These countries have significant influence in their respective regions and in the world. The changing global environment means greater political and economic role for the BRICS and other emerging countries. BRICS countries are expected to contribute nearly half of all global gross domestic product growth by 2020. For more than a century, the path of Competition Law has been defined by the developed and industrialized countries of the world. Much later, developing countries and emerging economies came on the scene. They experience many of the old competition problems, but they also experience new problems, and experience even the old problems differently. Where are the fora to talk about Competition Law and policy fit for developing and emerging economies? The contributors in this book are well-known academic and practising economists and lawyers from both developed and developing countries. The chapters begin with a brief introduction of the topic, followed by a critical discussion and a conclusion. Accordingly, each chapter is organized around a central argument made by its author(s) in relation to the issue or case study discussed. These arguments are thoughtful, precise, and very different from each another. Each chapter is written to be a valuable freestanding contribution to our collective wisdom. The set of case studies as a whole helps to build a collection of different perspectives on competition policy.


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