1887

OECD Economics Department Working Papers

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.

The views expressed in these papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the OECD or of the governments of its member countries.

English, French

Reforms to Open Sheltered Sectors to Competition in Switzerland

Measures to make the regulation of product markets more conducive to competition play a prominent role in the governments “growth package” of measures to stimulate economic growth which are in the process of being implemented. This paper discusses these measures and suggests further improvements. Notwithstanding significant reforms in recent years, competition law and its enforcement are still weaker than in other OECD countries. Scope for making regulation of product markets more competition-friendly is large in the network industries. While sector-specific regulators have been introduced, their independence needs to be strengthened. The reform of the electricity supply law provides the main building block opening the industry to competition, but vertical separation requirements of the electricity grid from electricity generation and trading activities need to be strengthened. In telecommunications, restrictions in access of competitors to the local loop limit the scope for lowering prices and improving quality of service in broadband connections. Measures still need to be taken to prevent discrimination against market entrants in the railway passenger services market and much scope exists to widen competition in postal services. Progress in lowering the degree of protection in the proposed legislation on agricultural policy 2007-11 is modest. Trade barriers can also be lowered for manufactured goods through the adoption of the Cassis de Dijon principle.

English

Keywords: privatisation, productivity and growth, network industries, agriculture, regulatory policies, competition law, competition
JEL: L40: Industrial Organization / Antitrust Issues and Policies / Antitrust Issues and Policies: General; K23: Law and Economics / Regulation and Business Law / Regulated Industries and Administrative Law; K21: Law and Economics / Regulation and Business Law / Antitrust Law; O52: Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth / Economywide Country Studies / Economywide Country Studies: Europe; L53: Industrial Organization / Regulation and Industrial Policy / Enterprise Policy; L51: Industrial Organization / Regulation and Industrial Policy / Economics of Regulation; L16: Industrial Organization / Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance / Industrial Organization and Macroeconomics: Industrial Structure and Structural Change; Industrial Price Indices; L43: Industrial Organization / Antitrust Issues and Policies / Legal Monopolies and Regulation or Deregulation; Q3: Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics / Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation
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