While antitrust agencies regulate competition dynamics there is ample evidence that they also engaging in competition amongst their peer agencies to determine which agency is considered the most cutting-edge, the most effective or the most active – and one worthy of leading others. Regardless of how one defines this quest for international recognition, many antitrust enforcers have expressed the aim of making their respective competition agency a “leading” competition agency. What does “leadership” amongst antitrust agencies actually imply? What are the incentives to promote a particular theory or practice? Which benchmark should be used, and against which counterfactuals, to evaluate such perceived or sought-after leadership? What is the impact on market players affected by leadership ambitions?
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