The fight against monopolization is one of the important directions of state regulation of the economy. For this, special antitrust regulation methods are applied. What is this, we will consider in the article. We will also analyze the goals, objectives, essence of this kind of regulation.
Monopolization
In the article we will consider the essence, basic models, methods of antitrust regulation. Let's start by defining the primary concept.
Monopolization is the concentration in one hands of means, goods, resources, and power. As for the economic sphere, this is the opposite of competition. Monopolization here is the concentration of aggregate market offers coming from one person.
This allows monopolists to dictate prices, sales volumes, regulate access to the market for other manufacturers and distributors of goods and services, and has an impact on the exchange rate.
Monopolization is especially pronounced in countries at the transitional stage of economic development. In particular, it acts as a kind of legacy of the administrative, command economy, characteristic of the socialist system.
To prevent the dominance of monopolists, the state turns to just the same methods of antitrust regulation. What is it?
Definition of a concept
Antitrust regulation (we will discuss the methods below) - state activity aimed at protecting consumer rights, preventing monopolization of various industries. This is achieved through the use of a whole combination of legislative, economic, administrative tools.
Accordingly, the main methods of antitrust regulation are legislative, administrative and economic. We will present them in detail.
Methods
Let's get acquainted with the methods and tools of antitrust state regulation:
- Legislative. Adoption of relevant antitrust laws. They are able to regulate the influence of the largest manufacturers on the markets, protect the freedoms and rights of medium and small businesses, and promote free competition.
- Administrative. These economic methods of antitrust regulation involve the creation of a whole complex of antitrust structures - committees, departments, ministries, federal agencies, etc.
- Economic. These methods of antitrust state regulation are concluded in support of private initiatives, free competition. A vivid example is the introduction of tax incentives, subsidies, all kinds of excise and customs duties, a policy of protectionism and liberalization.
Application of methods
The application of specific economic regulatory methods depends on the course of the state’s economic policy and its goals. For example, for countries with economies in transition, the following will be important:
- Support for domestic manufacturers.
- Development of competitive domestic production.
- Prevention of poor quality products and services in local markets.
- Consumer rights Protection.
Method classification
We continue to consider the main methods of state antitrust regulation. Used in different countries, they are quite differentiated. Are applied taking into account national features. This is interconnected with the tasks of increasing the overall efficiency of the economy.
All methods of this regulation can be divided into two categories:
- Direct. Such methods include measures that reduce or completely eliminate, prevent the monopolistic position of individual business entities in the market.
- Indirect. This includes, to a greater extent, financial and credit methods of overcoming and preventing a variety of monopolistic economic phenomena.
We will analyze them in more detail.
Direct group
In particular, the group of direct regulatory methods includes administrative. The second name is legislative.
It is based on counteracting just unfair competition, as well as monopolizing the economy. In legal form, this is achieved through the publication of legislative documents, state control over their implementation.
Indirect group
Indirect methods include methods of corrective and regulatory impact on the economy. They consist in supporting the competitive environment not by legislative restriction of centralization and concentration of capital, but by supporting development, economic incentives for medium-sized businesses - by placing government orders, attracting foreign investment.
That is, support for potential competitors of monopolistic firms and enterprises is carried out by the state so-called "invisible regulators." Like that: by placing government orders, by introducing differentiated taxes, subsidies, benefits, and so on.
As for the conditions of a transition economy that are characteristic of the Russian Federation, economic regulation methods are applied a priori here. It is carried out on the basis of democratic programs, which are capable of combining both indirect and direct methods of antitrust policy.
Target selection
We continue to consider the essence, basic models, methods of antitrust regulation. The choice of its goals for a particular economy is directly dependent on the economic, legal, cultural, social characteristics of the state at a particular stage of its development.
Also, the choice of the purpose of such regulation depends on the level of monopolization of the market, characteristic of a particular country. As the main models we will consider the United States and the Russian Federation.
Main models
We presented the methods of antitrust regulation of the economy. We now consider two models for their application:
- USA. Here, antitrust regulation is mainly aimed at guaranteeing equal starting opportunities for entrepreneurship. Work is underway to slow the growth of healthy competition into an economically harmful monopoly.
- RF As for the choice of methods of antitrust regulation in Russia, it must be understood that the level of monopolization in the country remains quite high, while the state’s economy is only on the path to developed capitalism. Indeed, until the beginning of the 90s there existed the Soviet economic system, characterized by comprehensive plans, strict centralization, and almost complete lack of independence among the heads of enterprises and organizations. Accordingly, the goal of Russian antitrust regulation is to create common economic spaces, the necessary conditions for a civilized existence of markets.
the main objective
We briefly reviewed antitrust regulation methods. What is his main goal? Ensuring equal opportunities in competitive spaces for all market entities.
In addition, such regulation in itself is the most important toolkit of modern state policies. That it contributes to the development of healthy competition.
In addition to the above, economists also identify the goals of antitrust regulation of the first and second order. Get to know them.
First order goals
The following goals of antitrust regulation are considered the most important, fundamental:
- Demonopolization of the economic space.
- Formation, construction of new market relations - based on the development of entrepreneurship, healthy competition.
- Creation of civilized market mechanisms.
- Prevention of both education and the increase in the existing sphere of monopoly price formation for goods and services.
- Exclusion of conditions conducive to the establishment of a deficit in the economy.
- The decentralization of material resources in case of their excessive concentration in the same hands.
- Removing barriers to the development of competition, access to the markets of new enterprises, firms and other business entities.
Second order goals
What stands out from the first-order goals is highlighted here. In particular, this is a complex of macroeconomic problems, the successful solution of which is necessary for the full development of the state economy.
In particular, this is the following:
- Elimination of deficit in the country.
- Saturation of the market with products, goods, services that are in demand among the population.
- The growth of existing national production.
- The proportional development of the economy.
- The increase in economic growth.
- Supporting the foreign economic balance of the state.
- Increasing the level of employment of able-bodied citizens.
- Strengthening social protection of the population.
Only the achievement of all the above goals will ultimately allow to realize all the advantages of a market type of economy, in general, to increase the efficiency of management.
Tasks
The application of the methods and goals of antitrust regulation is aimed at solving the following problems:
- Development and further improvement of the legal framework of antitrust laws, strengthening of methods for monitoring their implementation.
- Increasing antitrust control over economic concentration, as well as preventing the creation of various monopoly structures in the financial and commodity markets.
- Creating a favorable competitive environment in various fields of activity of business entities, which by their nature are not natural monopolies.
- Ensuring equal access to the work, goods, services of natural monopolies, the development of competition in potentially competitive varieties of their activities.
- Restriction of antitrust interference of government agencies in the work, the functioning of markets.
- Ensuring high efficiency of budgetary waste when placing state and municipal orders.
- Creation of proper conditions for the full development of competition in monopolized commodity markets (where there is a high concentration of supplies), the removal of all kinds of barriers to the development of competition, and the possibility of access to the markets of business facilities.
- Prevention, suppression, restriction of monopolistic activity, all kinds of unfair competition.
Legislative regulation
What is the basis of the antitrust policy that is being pursued in the Russian Federation? There are two fundamental acts:
- Federal Law "On Protection of Competition".
- The order of analysis of competition in the commodity market. It was approved by Order of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation No. 220 (2010).
These legislative acts allow the Russian state as a whole to influence market management systems and their institutions. Ultimately, this contributes to a healthy, competitive environment. Further, it is important for the state to ensure full control over its condition.
At the same time, special attention is paid to methods that lower the barriers to entry of new producers and sellers into the market arena. The following stimulating regulators are used:
- Credit.
- Tax.
- Budgetary.
- Using exchange rates.
- The application of various customs tariffs.
- The shift of established priorities during structural restructuring of the economy, a change in industrial policy, etc.
Also, one should not forget about the existence in almost every state of monopoly industries that have been removed from the control of antitrust laws. Here the state, on the contrary, establishes and protects the dominant position of individual manufacturers.
We examined the main methods of antitrust regulatory policy, their classification. We examined the important concepts, goals and objectives of such regulation.