Authors
Avdasheva S.
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Degree
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National Research University Higher School of Economics |
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E-mail
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avdash@hse.ru |
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Location
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Moscow |
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Articles
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Ex ante merger control in Russia: changes of efficiency if antitrust legislationAbstract. Law «On protection of competition** adopted in 2006, changed the procedure of ex ante merger control in Russia substantially. Positive impact of the changes in law on economic efficiency seems to be at least twice as annual budget of Federal Antitrust Service. The treatment of group of economic entities as economic firm was apprehended by Russian business. At the same time ex ante merger control still suffer from path-dependency: the most striking is the system of behavioral remedies containing the elements of price regulation.
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Competition policy: composition, structure, systemThe article presents the basic parts of competition policy — protective and active competition policy, as well as competition advocating. Protective competition policy explains the content of the «hard antitrust core» and suppression of unfair competition. The article studies directions of active compe¬tition policy such as the development of competition in industries with a natural monopoly element, competition rules in the market with a state as a buyer, the decrease of redundant barriers for enter¬ing and leaving the market. Variants of correlation and interaction among instruments of protective and active competition policies taking into account differences in tough and soft force are shown in the article. Read more...Using Sociological Methods to Access the Impact of the Public Policy (A Case of the Merger Notification)The article is devoted to the ex-post evaluation of the merger approval and the remedy development by Russian competition authority — the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) — using the results of interviews and a sample survey. The analyses and the decisions made by the FAS in several large merger deals completed in 2006–2008 are assessed. The authors explain the comparative advantages of different methods to assess the effects of the public policy employed in Russia, as well as alternative approaches for the evaluation of the effects of the mergers. The data of interviews and sample surveys allow to reject the hypothesis on the restriction of the competition as a result of the merger deals. At the same time the experts are skeptical towards the conditions in the merger remedies and their impact on the market competition.
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Effects of non-compliance with structural remedies of competition authority (on the example of remedies in Rosneft — TNK-BP merger)An impact and effectiveness of antitrust remedies (both structural and behavioral) issued by antitrust
authorities as a condition for merger clearance are still poorly studied especially in Russian
practices. The question raised in this article is quite unconventional. Does the form of remedies really
matter to prevent consumer harm due to increased market power after merger? Is exact remedies
fulfillment necessary for price increases preventing?
To reach the answer on these questions there have been investigated Rosneft’s acquisition of
TNK-BP, which both are large oil companies operating on Russian market. Antitrust remedies issued
by FAS of Russia regarding to this merger included gas station selling in regions where market share
of united company after the deal exceeded 50%. In fact, this condition was fulfilled in small part that
cannot be considered as complete fulfillment. Analysis of prices using difference-in-difference approach
demonstrated the absence of retail price increase after the merger. This result implies that
information about FAS’s supervision over markets affected by the deal on its own may prevent price
increase and negative impact on consumer welfare.
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Targets and Prospects of the Russian Competition Policy under DeglobalizationThe article explains the current and expected changes in the competition policy of the Russian Federation. In order to highlight the specific features of competition policy and antitrust enforcement in Russia, the article compares the objectives and instruments of the Russian enforcement with those under normative concept of competition policy and design of competition policy globally. Two challenges that Russian competition enforcement faces are international sanctions and deglobalization and restructuring of the markets under the impact of large digital platforms. History of competition policy development explains the response of competition policy on these challenges. Cut of administrative costs of business, amplifying the on-going reform of control and supervisory system in Russia, became probably the most effective competition-enhancing measure. Export restrictions in the form of quotas and tariffs partially replaces the enforcement against excessive pricing under the law “On protection of competition” aimed at the decreasing pass-through of commodity prices from international to the domestic markets. Competition enforcement towards digital platforms mostly uses the general provisions of the law “On protection of competition” in spite of the persistent desire to adopt the sector-specific antitrust provisions. Complete or partial exit of the international digital platforms from the Russian market (or at least from business in Russia) partially smooths the severity of the issue of monopolization in domestic market. The Russian digital platforms in particular segments still compete with the domestic as well as international rivals. Read more... |
