How's the competition?
It may be a truism among economists by now to state that more competition can improve a country’s economic performance by creating business opportunities, reducing costs of goods and services and boosting choice. But numerous laws and regulations still restrict competition in the marketplace.
In its Competition Assessment Toolkit, the OECD has developed a new methodology for identifying unnecessary restraints and developing alternative, less restrictive policies that still achieve government objectives.
One of the main elements of the toolkit is a competition checklist that asks a series of simple questions to screen for laws and regulations. For instance, proposals which grant exclusive rights for a supplier to provide goods or services, limit freedom of suppliers to advertise or market their goods or services, or create a self-regulatory or co-regulatory regime could harm competition.
The toolkit is designed for use by officials with no specialised training in economics or competition policy. It is available in several languages. Comments are welcome to help develop future versions.
Contact: Sean.Ennis@oecd.org.
OECD (2007), Competition assessment toolkit, Paris.
See www.oecd.org/daf/competition.
©OECD Observer No 266 March 2008
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