In many economic sectors – the digital industries being first and foremost – the market power of dominant firms has been steadily increasing and is rarely challenged by competitors. Existing competition laws and regulations have been unable to make markets more contestable. The book argues that a new competition tool is needed: market investigations. This tool allows authorities to intervene in markets which do not function as they should, due to market features such as network effects, scale economies, switching costs, and behavioural biases. The book explains the role of market investigations, assesses their use in the few jurisdictions where they exist, and discusses how they should be designed. In so doing, it provides an invaluable and timely instrument to both practitioners and academics.

Increased concentration and rising market power require new rules. Market investigations are necessary to complement existing regulations.

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has led to higher energy prices and disruptions in trade and supply chains, weighing on economic growth. Economic convergence had already slowed down before the pandemic, calling for accelerating structural reforms. Rising spending pressures related to defence, internal security, health and old age poverty need to be addressed by raising spending efficiency and tax revenue, while the tax burden should be shifted from labour towards other income, property, and environmental taxes. Continuing to improve the capacity of the public sector, fostering investment and innovation and addressing skilled labour shortages are key for raising potential growth. Low credit supply is a main factor for weak investment and should be tackled by fostering competition and deepening capital markets. High informality, which hinders access to finance and distorts the level playing field, should be addressed by reducing labour taxes for low-wage earners, improving tax enforcement and continuing to fight corruption. Strengthening the power of the Competition Council to enforce competitive neutrality of state-owned enterprises and challenge regulation that restricts competition would help to foster business dynamism and innovation. Addressing skilled labour shortages will require facilitating skilled migration and investing more in human capital. SPECIAL FEATURE: RAISING INVESTMENT TO SUPPORT GROWTH

In the past few years, Latin American countries have taken giant steps to reposition their competition authorities in the global antitrust arena, granting them much greater autonomy both domestically and internationally. This is an updated edition of the first book that offered an in-depth analysis of this complex scenario. The first part of the book includes more general chapters written by leading experts on a variety of relevant topics analyzed at a regional level such as the issues emerging with the digital economy and on the special field of the information and communications technology industry, as well as chapters on broad regional trends, on the working of competition law in countries with regulated markets and in the cluster of Central American countries, among others. At the heart of the presentation are nine chapters detailing the competition regimes of the most active national jurisdictions in the region—Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. Written by practicing experts with considerable hands-on experience in their respective countries, each of these chapters provides a comprehensive description and explanation of the evolution, current state, and prospects for antitrust in the country. Topics addressed in the country analysis encompass the following and more: relevant institutions and legislation; cartel investigations; unilateral conduct policies; merger review; international coordination; enforcement; and remedies. Each chapter includes an analysis of relevant case law, allowing the reader to gauge the positions, views, and tendencies of each competition law regime. The contributors also pay attention to the specificities and idiosyncrasies that are so important for a correct understanding of the practical realities of competition policy and enforcement. With its wide-ranging and in-depth approach, this book provides an incomparable analysis of a challenging region poised to become increasingly important in the international recognition and enforcement of antitrust law. It is in this sense an essential guide for lawyers, economists, corporations, academics, and government officials interested in understanding where competition law is, and where it is going to, in Latin America.

The most important book on antitrust ever written. It shows how antitrust suits adversely affect the consumer by encouraging a costly form of protection for inefficient and uncompetitive small businesses.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.