OECD Economics Department Working Papers

ISSN :
1815-1973 (online)
DOI :
10.1787/18151973
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Working papers from the Economics Department of the OECD that cover the full range of the Department’s work including the economic situation, policy analysis and projections; fiscal policy, public expenditure and taxation; and structural issues including ageing, growth and productivity, migration, environment, human capital, housing, trade and investment, labour markets, regulatory reform, competition, health, and other issues.
 

Product Market Competition in the OECD Countries

Taking Stock and Moving Forward You or your institution have access to this content

Authors:
Jens Høj, Miguel Jimenez, Maria Maher, Giuseppe Nicoletti, Michael Wise
Publication Date
17 Sep 2007
Bibliographic information
No.:
575
Pages
78
DOI
10.1787/108734233645

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Based on 18 country reviews performed over the 2003-2005 period, this paper examines, the cross-country differences in policy approaches to product market competition and their consequences for product market rents. Against this background, the paper summarises OECD recommendations to further strengthen competition in various sectors and areas. These include: removing remaining barriers to trade and inward foreign direct investments; better securing deterrence of cartels through effective sanctions; facilitate market access to inherently competitive industries by easing zoning laws (the retail sector), abolishing reserved monopolies (sales of tobacco and alcohol), limiting the scope of trade associations’ self-regulation and easing residency or nationality requirements (professional services); meet competition challenges in network industries by facilitating the effective separation of monopoly components from competitive activities, reducing public ownership, clearly separating the government’s ownership and regulatory functions and creating the right incentives for investing in infrastructures.
Keywords:
competition law, network industries, OECD countries, trade policy, antitrust issues and policies, market imperfections, inherently competitive sectors
JEL Classification:
  • D43: Microeconomics / Market Structure and Pricing / Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
  • F13: International Economics / Trade / Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
  • K21: Law and Economics / Regulation and Business Law / Antitrust Law
  • L4: Industrial Organization / Antitrust Issues and Policies
  • L8: Industrial Organization / Industry Studies: Services
  • L9: Industrial Organization / Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities