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The general principle is that it is crucial for the government to provide a stable macroeconomic environment conducive to business development with a clear, transparent and neutral regulatory environment and neutral incentives to all firms and industries. Clear, transparent and neutral incentives (those which do not distinguish by sector or firm) are crucial so that entrepreneurial innovation is rewarded more highly than rent-seeking activities. The economy must provide its most talented members with the incentive to engage in entrepreneurial activities such as starting or expanding firms, developing new products and lowering costs. If the economy provides extensive subsidies or tax exemptions to industries or firms, or presents a difficult regulatory framework within which to do business, corruption will be encouraged and, crucially, talented people will find it more profitable to engage in the socially wasteful activity of lobbying the government for subsidies, protection, tax or regulatory relief. This socially wasteful lobbying is especially harmful because it attracts scarce entrepreneurial talent that would otherwise be devoted to helping the economy grow. First, there is the risk that the wrong industries will be identified. The market is a more reliable indicator of the industries that have comparative advantage than any economic model or theory. Over time this is particularly true, as comparative advantage changes with technological development. Moreover, targeting industries as "winners" will generate rent-seeking where industries will spend resources to obtain government subsidies rather than attempting to compete more effectively on the market. Governments often find it difficult to resist these pressures. And assistance that is designed to be temporary may become permanent. Thus, experience in most countries has shown that a government policy of attempting to "pick winners" is highly counter productive.
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What role does, or should competition law play in the data economy? The proliferation of data into different fields of the economy presents a tremendous opportunity for economic growth. Data permits companies to improve the quality of the products and services that they offer to consumers. It also enables companies to reduce their costs, increase their efficiency, and identify new business opportunities. Reliance on data can therefore enhance the competitiveness of firms and the economy more generally. However, there is a concern that the data economy has given rise to increasingly concentrated markets, where a small number of firms has gained disproportionate market power. Can the enforcement of competition law promote the development of a competitive data economy? This article examines the competition policy that the European Union should adopt for the data economy generally and, more specifically, for the Industry 4.010 the coming digitalization of the manufacturing process and of the industry more broadly. It explains that weakening the enforcement of competition law to facilitate the development of EU champions would be a misguided policy for the European Union. A less competitive internal market, which would necessarily result from a weaker enforcement of EU competition law, is unlikely to increase the competitiveness of EU firms in the global arena.
Big Data --- Competition Policy --- Competitiveness and Competition Policy --- Private Sector Development --- Public Sector Development
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Even though many countries have opened to trade, markets in developing economies oftenunderperform due to anticompetitive behavior and restrictive regulatory frameworks by a fewdominant players. Effective competition policies offer a tool to complement and support governments' efforts to reduce barriers to trade. Active competition among market players has the potential to mitigate vested interests and facilitate the opening of markets to trade and investment. Greater competition within national markets reinforces international competitiveness of potential exporters through increased incentives to foster productivity, innovation and efficiency. Additionally, international trade reinforces competition in national markets by increasing contestability, entry and rivalry through increased presence of foreign products, services and investments. Empirical evidence suggests, for example, that: (i) the elimination of entry barriers, increased rivalry and leveling the playing field in upstream sectors contribute to export competitiveness in downstream manufacturing sectors; (ii) pro-competition market regulation that reduces restrictions and promotes competition is an important determinant for trade; (iii) competition law enforcement can be traced to export performance and is complementary to trade reforms; and (iv) industries with more intense domestic competition will export more.
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This note outlines barriers to competition in product markets based primarily on the screening of Serbian regulations using the OECD Product Market Regulation methodology and comparison to regulations in the OECD. The note focuses on topics covered by the 2018 OECD-WBG product market regulation (PMR) indicators such as regulation of network industries, professional services, state-owned enterprises, and restrictions on foreign businesses. The OECD-WBG product market regulation indicators are a screening tool that measure the degree to which regulations promote or inhibit competition. The indicators rely on qualitative information on over 1,000 features of economy-wide and sectoral regulations. The qualitative information is collected and coded based on a standardized questionnaire and later aggregated into quantitative scores that run from 0 (least restrictive) to 6 (most restrictive) using standardized weights. The analysis in this note relies on primary data for Serbia collected by the World Bank Group and comparative data for other countries collected by the OECD. To ensure comparability across countries the data is current as of January 1, 2018. The data has been collected throughout 2018 and the indicators included in this report are as of July 2019. The PMR indicators for Serbia have been calculated as part of the partnership between OECD and WBG Markets and Competition Policy Team and the primary data has been collected in collaboration with more than 30 public and private institutions in Serbia.
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In this paper, authors examine the political economy and consequences of industrial policy in the MENA region. How can the features of MENA's industrial policy be explained? And what accounts for the fact that, against world trends, industrial policies in MENA countries didn't followed the evolutionary path of industrial policies of other countries? Unlike in many other regions, industrial policy in MENA developed within the context of the region's strong 'social contract' between the government and its people. Although industrial development was an objective, it at times took a backseat to the more important goals of social transformation and economic redistribution, which influenced not only the types and success of industrial policies adopted, but also critically influenced the balance of power among interest groups. Section two of the paper provides the theoretical framework for understanding the experience with industrial policy. Starting with a brief survey of the arguments used to justify industrial policy interventions, and drawing on various strands of the literature it provides a review of the various mechanisms and arguments which help understand the factors which determine the emergence and type of industrial policies observed and how they change. Using this framework section three reviews the experience of MENA countries during the 1950s to the 1970s and the emergence of state-dominated vertical industrial policy, where traditional/sector selective and sector specific policies have been used extensively. Section four attempts to explain the failure for industrial policy to change during the 1980s and 1990s. While the developing world has moved toward more market oriented policies and production systems that are dominated by the private sector and rely on market signals, MENA has maintained much of the old style industrial policies and high state intervention in the economy that characterized much of the developing world in the past. The final section five makes concluding remarks on the likely directions of industrial policy in the region. As internal and external forces shape the way industrial policies can be used in the globalized economy, the MENA region's old style of industrial policy will need to adjust. The ultimate path of change will be determined greatly by each country's initial conditions and individual political economy factors.
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This paper presents a bird's eye overview of the investment policy and promotion (IPP) logical framework developed by the trade and competitiveness global practice of the WBG to address the challenge of how countries can use foreign direct investment (FDI) to advance their economic development. The report sets out three key propositions: id est (i) that investment policy should aim not to choose between but connect domestic and foreign investors, (ii) that investment policy making should be based on the whole investment cycle going beyond promotion and (iii) that not all FDI is the same nor has the same development impacts. This sets out the logical framework for a concrete investment policy and promotion intervention in a time of globalization that will yield measurable results.
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This report provides an assessment of the policies devoted to supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Czech Republic. It presents an original analysis of all national-level SME-related policy instruments, totaling 93 instruments operational from 2013 to 2017 and disbursing 108.5 billion CZK (4.71 billion USD), using an analytical framework that compares the SME policy mix to the country needs (see Annex 1 for framework and methodology). The analysis integrates three interrelated segments: 1) A country needs assessment to determine the national needs for SME policies. The needs assessment included a macro-level analysis of the Czech Republic's performance in productivity and trade; an analysis of national- and firm-level innovation performance; a firm-level analysis of productivity across firm sizes, sectors, and regions (leveraging original data from the Czech statistics office); and an analysis of market and institutional conditions that influence resource allocation and firm productivity. 2) A policy mix analysis to determine if the Czech Republic's SME policy mix matches the needs identified in the country needs assessment. The policy mix analysis included a review of relevant SME policy stakeholders, institutions, and governance; a review of national-level strategies; identification of the characteristics of SME policies instruments (administering agency, mechanism of support, beneficiaries, etc).; and a cluster analysis to evaluate the internal consistency of the policy mix and identify overlaps. 3) Recommended areas for policy action were developed using the needs assessment and policy mix analysis to improve the effectiveness of the policy mix and the business environment.
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It is conventional wisdom that industrial policies can be at odds with competitive markets. This note examines the historical basis for industrial policy and empirical effects. Although the direct effects of industrial policy are mixed, the indirect effects often involve market distortions. By contrast, the literature is broadly united on the benefits of competition for productivity and innovation. This review finds that the most successful industrial policies reinforce competition, suggesting that competition policy and certain types of industrial policy can be crafted as complements.
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Business enterprises --- Competition --- Benchmarking. --- Competition policy. --- Government policy --- European Union countries --- Economic policy
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This report presents an analysis of competition conditions and market concentration in Haiti. Based on available import data and available information on economic group connections, it also presents a limited analysis of the economic groups and companies that operate in Haiti, with a focus on highly concentrated markets. This analysis found that Haitian markets are constrained by a mix of factors, including operational business risks related to weak competitive conditions; highly concentrated markets which likely result in higher consumer prices; and a concentration of ownership in the most powerful firms, which seem to benefit from preferential treatment such as reduced customs duties.
Competitiveness and Competition Policy --- Energy --- Environment --- Export Competitiveness --- Finance --- Private Sector Development --- Rural Development
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