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Modernization of the theory and practices of antimonopoly regulation at the modern level: principles and tendencies (international experience)

In terms of strategic alliances' formation, which are capable to initiate positive effects for society and consumers, system changes in attitude of market agents, new strategic goals and initiations, new institutional principals of modern theory and practices of antimonopoly regulation were formed. They are adapted to transforming economic processes and deny some of former methodological constructions and legal terms.

Formation of competitive and natural-monopolistic activities in the market of the electric power industry

In Russia process of reforming of the power industry, which was initiated in the nineties of the last century, is going on. At the present moment by means of state intervention there is selection and formation of competitive types of activities in this sphere. The control of processes carried out by the Federal antimonopoly service, which is one of the key regulators of this market. The work describes the procedures and mechanisms of competitive and natural monopoly activities, and explores the challenges involved.

Economic and juridical aspects of using Soviet brands in a competitive environment

Analysis of international practices of evaluation the efficiency of implemented competition policy and the performance of the competition authority

Antimonopoly regulation of economic conduct of gas market participants: the main trends and enforcement practice

Historical and economics excursus: genesis of monopoly and competition in the Russian economy

Expert procedures and opportunities related with trial of antitrust cases

Competitive culture in the focus of substantive provisions of educational and professional standards

The Scylla and Charybdis of antitrust enforcement in the context of the socio-economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic

The article deals with the issues of permissibility of market regulators ‘ intrusion into the system of functioning of markets , measures and limits of potential support for market agents of national economies, as well as the limits and permissibility of loyalty to the implementation of the values of competition law in the conditions of the exogenous shock of the COVID-19 pandemic and the post-recovery period. Rapid response measures are identified and summarized in cases of predatory pricing, coordinated policies, mergers, and government assistance. Prospects for the transformation of certain antitrust regulations, including methodological formalization of permissive provisions and rules for the admissibility of anti-competitive manifestations, as well as the determinants of proving monopolistically high prices or violations of the pricing procedure, are outlined. The summary presented by the author reflects not only the scientific controversy, but also the range of broad public discussion of market regulators, business associations and communities on competition issues during the pandemic period in March-April 2020 Read more...

Methodological forks of antimonopoly regulation of digital markets: ideas and meanings of the digital agenda of Kazakhstan

The article continues the point of view of the experts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the issues of developing a set of measures and recommendations for regulating digital markets. Currently, among the professional community, lawyers and economists, the draft regulatory measures to the Entrepreneur Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (EC RK) – the main legislative act providing for antitrust regulation in the state- is widely discussed. The article describes the substantive provisions of legislative initiatives in the digital field of the Republic of Kazakhstan and recommendations for their improvement, as well as methodological barriers to digital regulation. The article reflects the issues of the digital agenda of the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as the latest decisions and regulatory documents submitted by both national (China, Japan, Germany, Great Britain) and international regulators. Particular attention is paid to certain provisions of the Digital Markets Act (Digital Markets Act-DMA), the draft of which the European Commission has proposed to the European Parliament for discussion at the end of 2020. The article reflects the content characteristics of the term “gatekeeper”, introduced for the first time, which reveals the priority characteristics of the behavior of the main digital platform for creating the most balanced regime of regulatory norms in the field of antitrust enforcement. Read more...

The Price Discrimination on the Shortage Markets: Theoretical Analysis

Antitrust law includes a number of evaluation norms in system of commodity market analysis and proofs of anti-competitive behavior, which provide for using wide range of economics and marketing methods. The widest field of discussing embedded in definition “price discrimination”. Specific research interest presents the making recommendations of regulation of shortage markets with unfounded differences in prices. This question we propose to consider in two articles: in first article we make theoretical analysis of price discrimination in situation of shortage markets, in second article (will be published in no. 4) we analyze marketing aspects and system of sales stimulation, which the seller accomplish on the shortage markets. In the focus of this research is price discrimination as a market mechanism and shortage markets as a market anomaly. The shortage markets in contrast of shortage on the market occurs not for reason that price is below the equilibrium level. The main reason of genesis of shortage markets is speculative demand on the markets and/or difficulties in producing goods and services. These difficulties often set by outside shocks. Price discrimination undergoing of effect of long-run shortage on markets transforming in phenomenon, which damages of consumer wealth and entrepreneurs benefits. In addition, this type of price discrimination decrease the social welfare too. The risks of price discrimination in the case of shortage markets needed new decisions and methods of regulation by state. However now we do not see some consensus in the issue of principles and instruments of state regulation of shortage markets. In the article we try to approbate some scientific results. These results are the hybrid definition of price discrimination; the legislative definitions of price discrimination as a acts which limiting competition; the criteria of functioning of shortage markets; proofs of transforming markets through the impact of long-run shortage; the difference between the case of shortage markets and the case of shortage on the markets in the classical demand-supply model; costs of price discrimination on the shortage markets; perspective antitrust regulation of price discrimination on the shortage markets. Read more...

Implementation of a Discount Policy the Shortage B2B Markets: a Marketing Ploy or Price Discrimination?

Modern research of B2B markets focuses on various aspects of information and economic interaction of market participants, but most often the features of marketing strategies in the field of promoting goods / services and building marketing communications are analyzed in order to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. The issues of effective pricing and the implementation of discount policy as a tool to stimulate sales in B2B markets have not been practically studied. The variability in the application of seller pricing policy instruments in B2B markets under conditions of a limited number of buyers can have a significant impact on the intensity of competition in the market and, as a consequence, lead to a change in the market structure, its transformation and loss of balance. Therefore, the pricing system in non-equilibrium, in particular, shortage markets, in which the inefficient use of discount mechanisms by sellers can take the form of price discrimination of buyers due to the increased market power of the seller, is of considerable scientific and practical interest. This article, being a continuation of the discourse started by the authors on price discrimination in scarce markets, published in No. 3 of the journal Modern Competition, and is devoted to the study of the feasibility of using discounts in equilibrium and scarce B2B markets. At the end of the series of articles on price discrimination in scarce markets [1], the authors intend to publish a third article, which will examine the case of a shortage solid-rolled wheel market in Russia in 2018-2019 from the standpoint of assessing the feasibility of preserving discount programs for certain categories of buyers in the specified oligopolistic B2B market. Read more...

The Phenomenon of Bargaining Power on the Competitive Product Markets

The emergence of network retailers and corporate associative structures in some industries, which became the largest buyers or initiators of market processes, began to form the buyer’s market power or bargaining power of the buyer that became the object of a broader study and confirmed its relevance. The realization of bargaining power on the part of the consumer does not always manifest itself in the system of economic interactions as an action that violates competition, but often is identified as a mechanism of business strategies or a form of implementation of marketing competitive practices. There are types of markets and market situations in which bargaining power is essentially the central link of the transaction, regulating prices, volumes, contract terms and distribution of benefits. The purpose of the study is to consider the phenomenon of bargaining power, since the consequences of its manifestations form long-term losses for both the seller and the market as a whole. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve several tasks: to conduct a theoretical analysis of the concept of “bargaining power”, to determine the difference between bargaining power and market power and to identify factors affecting the formation and development of bargaining power. This article focuses on the study of the evolution of theoretical thought in the field of disclosure of the phenomenon of bargaining power. Foreign sources give some understanding of the subject of bargaining power, but the question of factors, research schools and evaluation indicators still remains open. Based on the available bibliographic content, the article presents a comprehensive analysis of the category of “bargaining power” in various conditions of interaction of agents, the established scientific directions of its study. The systematized factors influencing the negotiating power and the vectors of their impact reflect the accumulated author’s opinion of different research views. The article reflects the criteria characteristics of the manifestation of bargaining power in the market. Understanding the essence of the phenomenon under study can be useful for expanding the field of market analysis in cases of antimonopoly proceedings, preventing anticompetitive actions, forming an antimonopoly compliance system and preventing antimonopoly risks. Read more...

The Possibility and Expediency of Marketing Variability in the Conditions of a Scarce Market (the Case of the Market of Solid-rolled Wheels-957)

The relevance of the study is due to the need to study the limits of the permissibility of business behavior of companies in the conditions of economic turbulence that has developed under the influence of various macro and microfactors. The disruption of logistics chains against the background of the first sanctions restrictions, the introduction of protective duties, a comprehensive system of state support for the industry (the “trade-in” program for changing the car fleet) led to new structural and behavioral models of the functioning of markets, which required understanding and selection of an adequate policy of state regulation. The purpose of the study is to consider the strategy of behavior of the dominant player with a pronounced differentiation in pricing policy in relation to different counterparties in a scarce market on the example of an antimonopoly case against a dominant economic entity in the market of solid-rolled wheels with a diameter of 957 mm within the borders of the Russian Federation (2018–2019). The objectives of the study are to consider how the implementation of three important elements of the company’s marketing strategies – price formation, market segmentation based on the Buchanan product concept and the selection of counterparties, as well as methods and technologies of discount policy in conditions of unsatisfied demand, can affect the functioning of a scarce market and affect price growth for two years. In the context of this study, the transformation of the mechanism of price discrimination in scarce markets is presented. It is noted that the behavior of the dominant entity regarding the establishment of a monopolistically high price in a scarce market looks economically unconditioned, the establishment of a differentiated final price for the sale of goods to various buyers at a level higher than the prices of the period preceding the shortage indicates price discrimination of the first and second degree. The analysis of various types of discounts shows that sales promotion is not a necessary marketing tool, as it reduces the monopoly profit of the seller and does not contain motivation for the formation of competitive initiations. The main gain of the consumer is not the volume of potential discounts, but the speed of searching for goods, contracting on any terms, the promptness of concluding transactions and obtaining maximum financial gain in conditions of uncertainty. Read more...

The Motivational Role of the ESG Factor in Transactions of Economic Concentration

The article is devoted to the consideration of the influence of the ESG factor (environment, social, governance) on M&A transactions (merger and acquisitions). The article substantiates the trend of economic transformations, reflecting the fact that environmental, social and corporate responsibility are becoming one of the most important areas of company development. Climate and environmental risks pose a threat to the financial stability of the business, its corporate image and social consumer loyalty. The article examines the degree of business involvement in the ESG agenda and provides a qualitative assessment of companies’ resource needs to achieve sustainable development goals. Using the opportunities provided by the green agenda, the company strengthens its ESG positions. The purpose of the study is to consider the role of the ESG factor in mergers and acquisitions. Based on the available research on the importance of mergers and acquisitions being an effective tool for business restructuring, the authors emphasize that the ESG factor is likely to be included in the overall motivational contour of concentration transactions. At the junction of two global strategic processes – the process of economic concentration and the process of sustainable development of companies in the field of ESG, the importance of studying the ESG factor, which has a motivating influence on mergers and acquisitions, is considered. The authors draw attention to the fact that the role and place of the little-studied ESG factor in the process of mergers and acquisitions, as well as the influence of the ESG agenda in the process of business concentration will increase at all stages of mergers and acquisitions. It is noted about the advantages of buying companies specializing in green technologies, which allows you to restructure the need for investment in the creation of modern and environmentally friendly technologies. The concept of sustainability is based on the efficiency of using limited resources, which is why the results of the study are of interest to companies focused on rapid growth using M&A transactions. Read more...

Institutional Design of the Order 220 in Relation to Digital and Classical Markets

The proposed article reflects a methodological description and specific proposals for the content of certain provisions of the Procedure for analyzing the state of competition in the commodity market, approved in accordance with Order No. 220 of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia dated April 28, 2010 in connection with a set of changes related primarily to digital markets. The article presents a brief historical content of changes and transformations of methods for analyzing commodity markets for the purposes of antitrust enforcement, which shows the need for important additions and modernization of the Order 220, both in relation to digital markets and updating concepts and categories of the general outline of commodity market analysis. Special attention is paid to the fact that the instrumental disclosure of the concepts of “decisive influence” and “network effect” are the most important narrative of the regulatory axis in the digital agenda. The article proposes a matrix of variability of research tools for analyzing the relevant market (classical and digital), since significant transformations of the classical market paradigm in the context of expanding digitalization of public and economic life imply a change in research tools for assessing the state of the competitive environment. Given that different types of online platforms compete on the basis of different quality parameters, a description of the SSNDQ test is presented, which may become the main argument for the possibility of switching platform users and its inclusion in the Order of 220 is possible. For the first time in scientific research content, the author’s vision of instrumental assessments of network effects and signs of dominance of digital platforms is systematically reflected, indicators for analyzing the consequences and strength of the network effect are systematized. Four complex groups of indicators are proposed to assess the consequences and strength of the network effect, and their meaningful content is reflected. Read more...

Analysis of the State of Competition in the Housing Construction Market in the Context of Key Trends

The presented article reflects a study of the state of the housing construction market in recent years. The article offers a brief analysis of the state of bibliographic study of the issue of the state of the competitive environment in the housing construction and residential real estate market, reflects the systematization and description of five main trends, provides a more detailed analysis of the state of the competitive environment and the structure of the housing commodity market, calculates indicators reflecting the fact of structural dominance in the regions of the Russian Federation. A ranking of the 20 largest developers in terms of “housing under construction” and the regions of their presence in 2023 and a comparative analysis of structural changes in market concentration by federal districts for the period 2021–2023 were built. The level of concentration of housing construction markets according to the indicator “housing under construction” in the context of administrative-territorial districts of the Russian Federation is determined. It is noted that in most regions of Russia there is a high level of competition in the residential real estate construction market, which has a significant impact on the state of the market as a whole and the processes taking place on it. The presence of active competition in 85% of regional housing construction markets indicates that there are no signs of abuse of a dominant position in the vast majority of regions, signs of structural collective dominance are also limited, which allows us to hypothesize that price increases are formed not because of the monopolistic behavior of real estate developers, but due to the influence of other factors, which are subject to more detailed study. Read more...