Global Forum on Competition 2020

The OECD Global Forum on Competition brings together every year competition officials from over 110 authorities and organisations worldwide.

In 2020, due to Covid the Forum was held virtually over three days and opened with a discussion on "Competition policy: Time for a reset?" featuring Angel Gurría (OECD Secretary General) and a keynote address by Margrethe Vestager (EU Executive Vice President). 

Other sessions open to competition authorities only focused on: Abuse of dominance in digital markets, Economic analysis in merger investigations and Using market studies to tackle emerging competition issues. 

The Forum held a session open to the public on whether fundamental changes are needed to existing competition policy frameworks. 

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Many digital markets exhibit certain characteristics, such as low variable costs, high fixed costs and strong network effects, that result in high market shares for a small number of firms. In some cases, these lead to “competition for the market” dynamics, in which a single firm captures the vast majority of sales.

This session discussed the main types of abuse of dominance concerns that can emerge in digital markets, what makes these markets unique, and how have competition authorities around the world tackled these challenges. 

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Economic analysis is a fundamental part of merger control. It underpins the theories of harm that guide merger reviews, and it provides the tools to interpret evidence when assessing these theories. Economic expertise can be of value at each stage of a merger investigation, from evidence gathering to the assessment of remedies. This roundtable gathered speakers to share their experiences on the subject and allowed participants to exchange their own experiences through three break-out sessions on three related topics:

• Surveys and other data gathering techniques
• Quantitative evidence
• The role of economists in merger teams and qualitative evidence review

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The debate on how best to use and adjust the current competition policy framework and tools to deliver benefits to society in a changing world continues to evolve as competition authorities gain experience in both antitrust and merger cases in various industries. This experience has shown that challenges to effective competition do not come solely from anti-competitive behaviour and merger strategies. 

This session discussed the key questions facing competition authorities when considering market studies and emerging competition issues. 

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This blog series is based on the 2020 Global Forum on Competition agenda and highlights some of the key issues that each session addressed.

#1 How can competition law tackle misconduct in digital markets?

#2 Can market studies be a more effective tool for tackling emerging competition issues?

#3 Are digital markets bringing new challenges in abuse of dominance cases?

#4 Economising economic analysis for mergers in smaller markets

#5 How does the UK use market studies to tackle emerging competition issues?

#6 How is Mexico using market studies to tackle emerging competition issues?

#7 Economics in merger control: an invaluable tool at every step of the process