combine technical and economic regulation in a sector specific regulator and leave competition law enforcement entirely in the hands of the competition agency organize technical regulation as a stand alone function and include economic regulation within the competition agency combine technical and economic regulation in a sector specific regulator and give it all or some competition law enforcement functions.

Technical regulation will not likely fit well within competition agencies.

It follows, then, that prudential regulation and competition policy in banking should be coordinated.

Moreover, the distinction between economic and technical regulation and competition enforcement can often be blurred.

Fourth, the role of rating agencies needs to be rethought, with more regulation and competition introduced.

Misguided regulation or market failures that harm competition anywhere can burden the entire economy.

As regulation is a form of competition between governments, focusing on improved regulation increasingly looks like the best channel of influence available to OECD countries.

And misplaced regulation for example, in the service sector remains a barrier to healthy competition in many countries.

Particular attention should be paid to land access, investment regulation, competition laws, infrastructure, the informal market and governance.

Most proposals suggest a delicate combination of competition and regulation there is a need not only to increase competition, but also to make it work (e.g. through regulation to remedy inadequate consumer information) and, finally, to complement it with regulations with a social purpose.

They recognize that policy and regulation in member economies may have objectives other than promoting competition and that exemptions from and exceptions to a competition driven regulatory framework may be necessary.

The design of optimal regulation has to take into account the intensity of competition in the different banking segments.

Likewise, some regulation for example, environmental rules, product safety standards, and anti trust enforcement is needed to ensure that competition is fair.

See FTC Chairman discusses competition policy trends in international antitrust enforcement , Antitrust Trade Regulation Report 75, 12 November 1998, p. 555.

In other words, he clearly believed that regulation created artificial barriers, and that competition between jurisdictions that is, between regulators was to be welcomed.

There has always been uncertainty about the best design of a banking system, and there has always been competition between different sorts of banking regulation.

In the interim, all of the country s economic regulation was examined from the standpoint of maximizing competition, and a national pro reform consensus was forged.

The problem is that regulation is unlikely to eliminate completely market failures the competition stability trade off can be ameliorated, but not eliminated.

If a decision is made to combine competition law enforcement and economic regulation, serious attention should be paid to differences in how competition agencies and regulators conduct their principal functions because this could significantly influence how they would carry out a combined mandate.

A Regulation on Cooperation of the States in Suppression of Monopolistic Activity and Unfair Competition establishes cooperation mechanisms in crossborder cases, on the basis of the principle of positive comity.

Despite potentially playing complementary roles in fostering competitive markets and safeguarding consumer welfare, the different approaches employed and different perspectives held by competition policy and sector regulation can be a source of friction.

Moreover, beyond effective regulation (including ensuring a level playing field for competition), modern economies are founded on technological innovation, which in turn presupposes basic research funded by government.

The new government needs to convince the middle class to accept a cutback in energy subsidies, which now consume 30 of public expenditures, and ensure better regulation of competition and democratization of credit.

There are also bilateral agreements or arrangements which either focus specifically on technical assistance on competition law and policy (there is such an agreement between the competition authorities of South Africa and Zimbabwe, for instance) or include such assistance within the context of assistance on different forms of economic regulation.

In sectors expected to evolve reasonably quickly to being workably competitive (i.e. transition sectors), assuming a decision has been made to combine economic regulation with competition law enforcement, it would probably be better to locate these functions within the competition agency than within a sector specific regulator.

Regulatory competition thus degenerates into a race to the bottom, since the benefits of lax regulation translate into profits at home, while the losses lie with bank creditors around the world.

Some industries suffer from counterproductive and ill conceived regulation others are ailing as a result of monopolistic behavior by dominant firms, or because they face a lack of effective competition and transparency in utilities and financial services.

Of all these, the Commission and the Competition Tribunal have on average rejected no more than 2 per cent, which indicates that the merger regulation environment in South Africa is one that is very permissive.

While regulation and restrictions may hamper small business, not all regulation and restrictions are useless.

Similarly, capitalism depends on competition, but competition can be brutal and destructive.

Financial Re Regulation and Democracy

Regional ICT Policy and Regulation

A large number of free trade agreements with competition policy provisions and cooperation agreements on anti monopoly matters have also been concluded among the Central and Eastern European and CIS countries.The CIS has also agreed, in the context of the creation of an economic union among its members, to create conditions for fair competition, including a mechanism for anti monopoly regulation.

competition law and policy

Competition and consumer policies

Box 2. OECD guidelines for apportioning competition enhancing tasks between competition agencies and regulators

In non transition sectors, if it is decided to combine economic regulation with responsibility for ensuring non discriminatory access to necessary inputs, this is probably better done within a regulator than within the competition agency.

Regulation 10.2

Domestic regulation

Legal regulation

Regulation 5.1

Regulation 5.2

Regulation 5.3

Regulation 11.1

Regulation 11.2