Measuring the contribution of EU competition policy to economic well-being

November 2017

CPI Europe Column edited by Anna Tzanaki (Competition Policy International) & Juan Delgado (Global Economics Group) presents:

Measuring the contribution of EU competition policy to economic well-being By Fabienne Ilzkovitz and Adriaan Dierx[1]

The poorest in society may be most affected by the higher prices and lower quality and choice resulting from a lack of competition. The tools of competition policy (including merger and cartel control) allow countering the actions taken by companies to reduce effective competition in the markets. These tools “should contribute to steering innovation and making markets deliver clear benefits to consumers, businesses and society as a whole”.[2] Increased evidence and a more in-depth analysis of the broader impact of competition policy interventions by the European Commission would help convince the larger public about the benefits of such interventions for the society as a whole.

While the relationship between competition and macroeconomic performance has been thoroughly if not conclusively investigated, there is much less evidence pertaining to the macroeconomic and distributional impacts of competition policy, at least in comparison with other policies affecting the conditions of competition, such as trade liberalisation or market deregulation. One reason is a lack of suitable data. Our access to a unique database containing information on important merger and cartel decisions taken by the European Com