Abstract
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 145-166 |
Number of pages | 22 |
Journal | Review of Industrial Organization |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Sep 2002 |
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Bibliographical note
Paper presented at the Workshop on Treament of Market Power in East Asian Economies, Jun, 2001, Taipei, Taiwan.Keywords
- Competition policy
- Laissez faire
- Sectoral approach
Cite this
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Competition policy under laissez-faireism : market power and its treatment in Hong Kong. / CHEN, Kwan Yiu, Edward; LIN, Ping.
In: Review of Industrial Organization, Vol. 21, No. 2, 01.09.2002, p. 145-166.Research output: Journal Publications › Journal Article (refereed)
TY - JOUR
T1 - Competition policy under laissez-faireism : market power and its treatment in Hong Kong
AU - CHEN, Kwan Yiu, Edward
AU - LIN, Ping
N1 - Paper presented at the Workshop on Treament of Market Power in East Asian Economies, Jun, 2001, Taipei, Taiwan.
PY - 2002/9/1
Y1 - 2002/9/1
N2 - The paper describes the current competition policy framework in Hong Kong: how it came into existence, what business practices are prohibited, and how the enforcement system works. Recent cases in the telecommunications industry are used to illustrate the sectoral approach, a unique feature of Hong Kong's competition policy. We argue that a sectoral approach faces two fundamental drawbacks. First, due to having different "rules of the game'' for different sectors, the allocation of resources may be distorted in the long run. Second, since the relevant regulatory agencies perform dual roles both as competition policy enforcer and as traditional regulator of natural monopolies, the impartiality of their competition decisions may not be credibly conveyed to the public. We also address other specific problems associated with the sectoral approach, such as the exclusion of structural issues, narrow coverage of sectors, and the lack of public enforcement. We conclude that an overall competition law can better promote competition and economic efficiency in Hong Kong.
AB - The paper describes the current competition policy framework in Hong Kong: how it came into existence, what business practices are prohibited, and how the enforcement system works. Recent cases in the telecommunications industry are used to illustrate the sectoral approach, a unique feature of Hong Kong's competition policy. We argue that a sectoral approach faces two fundamental drawbacks. First, due to having different "rules of the game'' for different sectors, the allocation of resources may be distorted in the long run. Second, since the relevant regulatory agencies perform dual roles both as competition policy enforcer and as traditional regulator of natural monopolies, the impartiality of their competition decisions may not be credibly conveyed to the public. We also address other specific problems associated with the sectoral approach, such as the exclusion of structural issues, narrow coverage of sectors, and the lack of public enforcement. We conclude that an overall competition law can better promote competition and economic efficiency in Hong Kong.
KW - Competition policy
KW - Laissez faire
KW - Sectoral approach
UR - http://commons.ln.edu.hk/sw_master/2034
U2 - 10.1023/A:1019621426648
DO - 10.1023/A:1019621426648
M3 - Journal Article (refereed)
VL - 21
SP - 145
EP - 166
JO - Review of Industrial Organization
JF - Review of Industrial Organization
SN - 0889-938X
IS - 2
ER -