By Date

OECD Competition Open Day 2019

27 February 2019 - Debates at the inaugural OECD Competition Open Day will address: non-price competition in digital markets; vertical restraints and exclusionary practices in e-commerce; excessive prices in pharmaceutical markets; and, gun jumping and pre-closing exchanges of information.

Concentration in Seed Markets - Potential Effects and Policy Responses

A Chain Reaction: Disruptive Innovation in the Electricity Sector

This report explores the impact of innovative technologies on the electricity sector and examines priorities for regulatory policies that governments will need to put in place to negotiate the energy transition to a zero-carbon economy.

OECD Global Forum on Competition

Paris, 29-30 November 2018: The 2018 Global Forum will focus on: competition and fairer societies; gender; regional competition agreements; investigative powers; and state-owned enterprises.

Excessive Pricing in Pharmaceuticals

A number of competition enforcement actions against excessive pricing have taken place in the pharmaceutical sector, despite competition authorities usually being reluctant to intervene directly against high prices. In November 2018, the OECD held a discussion on the intersection of competition concerns with excessive prices and the interaction between competition and regulated sectors such as pharma.

Personalised Pricing in the Digital Era

As data analytics and pricing algorithms become common business practice in the digital era, there are growing concerns about the possibility that companies use such tools to engage in personalised pricing. In November 2018, the OECD Consumer Protection and Competition committees jointly discussed challenges associated with the ambiguous and multi-dimensional effects of personalised pricing among other issues.

Quality considerations in the zero-price economy

Zero-price products are not a new concept and over the course of a single day, most consumers will come into contact with at least one product that is offered to them at a price of zero. In the digital economy, however, new zero-price markets have arisen. In November 2018 the OECD held a discussion to study their own unique characteristics and challenges they may impose. This page contains all related materials.

Gun jumping and suspensory effects of merger notifications

Gun jumping has received a lot of attention recently, as a perception has arisen that competition authorities are devoting more enforcement resources to these violations, and that the amounts of monetary fines for such infringements are increasing. In November 2018, the OECD held a roundtable to discuss recent developments in the enforcement practice, and contrast them with business needs in various stages before closing a merger.

Designing publicly funded healthcare markets

While there is little guidance on where or how to introduce choice and competition in healthcare services, there has nevertheless been a steady movement towards the greater use of market mechanisms to improve their quality and efficiency. In November 2018, the OECD held a discussion to share experiences and lessons learned on the topic. This page contains all related materials.

Treatment of legally privileged information in competition proceedings

Different approaches to legal professional privilege among jurisdictions create challenges regarding companies’ international operations, and authorities’ co-operation and sharing of information in cross-border cases involving jurisdictions offering dissimilar levels of protection. This November 2018 OECD discussion dealt with these questions.