Competition policy for the oligopoly economy
Australia, as recently observed, is an oligopoly economy. But what does that mean exactly? And – in this time of reflection – does (or should) this fact impact upon our competition policy? A very smart lawyer and academic, Michal Gal, has researched this issue closely. She recommends that small economies such as Australia favour efficiency over competition, via a liberal merger policy combined with strong conduct rules. In this edition, we outline her research, highlighting the key insights as well as some potential pitfalls. We then consider Gal’s work specifically in the Australian context.