Antitrust in BRICS: Agenda and achievements in comparative perspective

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COVID-19: moments of truth and sources of controversy

Some promising areas of research into the effects of the coronavirus pandemic are outlined. Among them – reflection in the system of sanitary and epidemiological indicators and their numerical values of the characteristics of socio-economic systems; comparative analysis of discrete structural alternatives in the light of the choice of solutions to combat the pandemic and its consequences; adaptation effectiveness of institutions in the context of the relationship of micro- and meso-institutions

Law and economics vs. formal legal approach in criminal prosecution of the cartel

Criminal prosecution of monopolistic activities in the form of market cartelization is the most sensitive instrument for individuals and can both have a serious deterrent effect and restrict behavior that is beneficial to the public welfare. The paper considers theoretical and economic aspects of choosing an antitrust enforcement regime in view of the projected changes in the discussion and application of the norms of article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, taking into account possible differences between organizing a cartel, entering into a cartel agreement and participating in a cartel. It is obvious that there are various options for correlating the concept of concluding an agreement and participating in it, including anti-competitive. However, it requires realistic assumptions about human behavior. Based on the principle of methodological individualism and the concept of bounded rationality used in economic sciences, the authors demonstrate restrictions on projecting the ratio of agreement conclusion/participation of legal entities (economic entities) on actions of individuals. Practical issues of designing criminal punishment for cartels are considered taking into account various legal concepts, including the form and types of guilt, as well as on the basis of comparison with other articles of the Criminal Code providing punishment for collective unlawful acts. In connection with the reproduction of the tradition of hostility in antitrust legislation, the Russian antimonopoly legislation has identified the risks of objective imputation (risks of type I errors) and insufficient punishment of the cartel organizer (risks of type II errors) in case of underestimation of the weight of economic concepts based on the principle of methodological individualism and the assumption of bounded rationality of individuals

Leniency programs and socially beneficial cooperation: Effects of type I errors

This study operationalizes the concept of hostility tradition in antitrust as mentioned by Oliver Williamson and Ronald Coase through erroneous law enforcement effects. The antitrust agency may commit type I, not just type II, errors when evaluating an agreement in terms of cartels. Moreover, firms can compete in a standard way, collude or engage in cooperative agreements that improve efficiency. The antitrust agency may misinterpret such cooperative agreements, committing a type I error (over-enforcement). The model set-up is drawn from Motta and Polo (2003) and is extended as described above using the findings of Ghebrihiwet and Motchenkova (2010). Three effects play a role in this environment. Type I errors may induce firms that would engage in socially efficient cooperation absent errors to opt for collusion (the deserved punishment effect). For other parameter configurations, type I errors may interrupt ongoing cooperation when investigated. In this case, the firms falsely report collusion and apply for leniency, fearing being erroneously fined (the disrupted cooperation effect). Finally, over-enforcement may prevent beneficial cooperation from starting given the threat of being mistakenly fined (the prevented cooperation effect). The results help us understand the negative impact that a hostility tradition in antitrust — which is more likely for inexperienced regimes and regimes with low standards of evidence — and the resulting type I enforcement errors can have on social welfare when applied to the regulation of horizontal agreements. Additional interpretations are discussed in light of leniency programs for corruption and compliance policies for antitrust violations

Meeting blindly… Is Austrian economics useful for dynamic capabilities theory?

This paper relates competition studies and views on competition policy within Austrian economics to the dynamic capabilities theory. The idea of interacting research programs in economics is used to provide the frame for reflecting on particular issues of competition, on the one hand, and (1) ignorance, (2) knowledge (including tacit knowledge), (3) rationality, (4) equilibrium, (5) innovation, (6) entrepreneurship, and (7) monopoly, on the other hand. Unlike the majority of previous studies, these issues are discussed here mainly through the lens of new institutional economics. Williamson's three-level scheme is used to explain opportunities and constraints for mutually enriching exchange of concepts between different but close approaches in economic research. This paper shows that there are important interconnections and complementarities despite significant differences in objects of study and weak mutual flows of ideas and concepts

Delineating market boundaries in the Russian mass notification market: An application of critical loss analysis

Telecom companies are a frequent target of antitrust investigations in Russia. In an industry where services tend to become more and more complex and companies actively invest in diversifying their businesses, the antitrust authority in most of its telecom cases has chosen to define markets narrowly, which increases antitrust risks for the companies. This paper uses poll data on mass SMS notifications — a market in recently investigated by the FAS Russia — to demonstrate, using critical loss analysis, that the market should be defined in broader terms. In particular, the main empirical finding is that the relevant product market boundaries should cover not only SMS, but also email, messengers and push and voice notifications

The calling card of Russian digital antitrust

Digital antitrust is at the forefront of all expert discussions and is far from becoming an area of consensus among researchers. Moreover, the prescriptions for developed countries do not fit well the situation in developing countries, and namely in BRICS: where the violator of antitrust laws is based compared to national firms becomes an important factor that links competition and industrial policy. The article uses three recent cases from Russian antitrust policy in the digital sphere to illustrate typical patterns of platform conduct that lead not just to a restriction of competition that needs to be remedied by antitrust measures, but also to noteworthy distribution effects. The cases also illustrate the approach taken by the Russian competition authority to some typical problems that arise in digital markets, e.g. market definition, conduct interpretation, behavioral effects, and remedies. The analysis sheds light on the specifics of Russian antitrust policy in digital markets, as well as their interpretation in the context of competition policy in developing countries and the link between competition and industrial policies