Case prioritisation and prosecutorial discretion by competition authorities

Given the limited resources available to competition authorities, decisions around case prioritisation and prosecutorial discretion play a fundamental role in shaping the effectiveness of competition policy. This paper, supported by original survey evidence, highlights how such decisions influence the actions that competition authorities take and reflect their strategy and overall priorities. Effective case prioritisation requires striking a balance between discretion, transparency and cost-benefit based decision making. Authorities should consider developing procedures and public guidance to provide clarity and transparency to these decisions, and develop healthy case pipelines to make the exercise meaningful.