The Future of International Antitrust and Improving Antitrust Agency Capacity

One of the key issues in international antitrust has been how to make antitrust more effective around the world. Most antitrust laws have been adopted or significantly modified since 1990. A number of key jurisdictions are either fairly new to antitrust altogether or to an antitrust regime that effectively employs the latest in economic thinking and the legal tools necessary to promote competition. Jurisdictions that have made antitrust a new and important cornerstone to economic policy include Brazil, Russia, India, and China. Because of the stakes involved in the ability of antitrust to foster economic development and to prevent misguided antitrust policy from operating as a regulatory tax, it is critical that the future of antitrust focus on improving agency capacity around the world. This Essay focuses on how both external -- international institutions -- and internal -- agency capacity and technical assistance -- dynamics shape the capacity of younger agencies to undertake antitrust in their jurisdictions. Both approaches play an important role in improving capacity. In the case of technical assistance, this Essay analyzes survey data from recipient agencies of antitrust technical assistance to determine the most effective means of improving antitrust agency capacity. Part I explains the type of capacity building that antitrust agencies undertake themselves. The rest of this Essay focuses upon international efforts that can assist agencies in capacity building. Part II describes the work that international antitrust institutions undertake to improve agency capacity. Part III provides an analysis of survey data that shows how technical assistance from outside providers can improve agency capacity. Part IV concludes and offers recommendations to improve developing world antitrust agency capacity building