The Pros and Cons
The Swedish Competition Authority annually arrange an international conference under the theme “The Pros and Cons”. During the day, enforcers, private practitioners and researchers present their view on a particular competition issue.
The event “Pros and Cons” is arranged to disseminate and deepen the knowledge of central topics within the competition area and to allow researchers and practitioners to meet and exchange ideas. Since the first seminar in 2002, prominent economists and lawyers have discussed the pros and cons of interesting issues within the competition law.
The Pros and Cons 2024
The theme of this year’s conference is the Pros and Cons of New Tools. The conference takes place in Stockholm on Monday, 20 May 2024, and is free of charge.
Are competition rules fit to solve the critical competition distortions on modern markets? Is there a regulatory gap that need be filled with new powers for competition authorities to uproot such distortions swifter and more efficiently?
In recent years, many experts have called for complementary competition rules, or “New Tools”. The idea is to empower regulators further and to enable them to take remedial actions faster, which recently been proposed in Denmark and Norway. Germany adopted such tools July 2023 and the United Kingdom in 2002.
Others are less enthusiastic: Is there really a serious regulatory gap? Why would current rules, including new digital ones, be insufficient? Why a New Tool be the only and best solution? What is the optimal design of it and what can we learn from the UK?
The Pros and Cons 2024 conference will invite alternative answers to these questions by prominent scholars, regulators and private practitioners.
Previous Pros and Cons
Can competition policy help fight inflation? Although monetary policy is the main tool to handle inflation, many argue that competition policy has a role, especially over the longer term. Can inflation weaken competition?
In the recent year, we have seen politicians pursuing new initiatives to curb inflation. Does such initiatives put competition at risk? Can current and past experiences give us an answer?
Inflation can also affect the way that companies compete and thus can possibly effect competition policy and its compliance. What should enforcers look out for?
The theme of the Pros and Cons 2023 conference was the Pros and Cons of fighting Inflation with Competition Policy. Enforcers, private practitioners and researchers will share their perspectives on the topic.
Should competition law take better account of sustainability considerations? Does its enforcement have a role to play in achieving environmental objectives? And if so, which role?
Although many agencies agree on the need to give more weight to sustainability harms and benefits in the enforcement of competition rules, there is an ongoing debate on what the best way is to do it in practise and the delicate balance between competition and collaboration between rival firms.
The theme of the Pros and Cons 2022 conference was the Pros and Cons of Sustainability Considerations. Researchers and experts shared their perspectives on the topic.
Four themes were covered, including the challenge for competition policy, the industry view, experiences from a pioneering enforcement agency, and methodological issues.
This years Pros and Cons addressed the issue of Presumptions.
This year's theme, as well as year 2008, was the Pros and Cons of Vertical Restraints. Researchers and experts shared their point of view of the topic.
The seminar, moderated by Professor Giorgio Monti, discussed the question of how the competitive assessment of rebates has evolved and how the more economic approach is reflected in the assessment of rebates.
Researchers, practitioners and competition authority representatives highlighted the theme "The Pros and Cons of Market Definition" from different angles.
The Swedish Competition Authority organized an international seminar on sharing economy in Stockholm on the 11th of November 2016.
The Swedish Competition Authority organized an international seminar on Leniency and Criminalization in Stockholm on the 13th of November 2015.
Researchers, practitioners and competition authority representatives highlighted the theme "The Pros and Cons of Antitrust in Two-Sided Markets" from different angles.
The Swedish Competition Authority organized an international seminar in Stockholm on the 6th December 2013. Invited speakers and opponents gave their presentations on the topic: "The Pros & Cons of Counterfactuals".
In the book "More Pros and Cons of Merger Control", the authors discuss the latest research on merger control and ex-post evaluation of merger decisions.
The Pros & Cons of Consumer Protection, focused on consumer protection, competition policy and the implications of recent developments in behavioral economics, as well as analyses based on information economics, for these policy areas.
In 2011 we also organised a conference concerning public procurement with the theme The Cost of Different Goals of Public Procurement.
Different standards may represent an obstacle to functioning competition. However, standards may simultaneously be an effective tool to guarantee diversity and innovations and thus strengthen competition.
Public intervention in markets can often result in distortion of competition, but how should it be analyzed? This question is explored in the book “The Pros and Cons of Competition in/by the Public Sector”.
Do consumers stand to gain or lose when a manufacturer determines prices all the way through to the retail stage? Not even the researchers can agree on the answer. The Competition Authority contributed to the debate on this controversial issue by organising the seminar "The Pros and Cons of vertical restraints".
Are high prices always a sign of inadequate competition? And why do competition authorities so seldom act against extremely high prices? These are two of the key questions in the book "The Pros and Cons of High Prices".
Information sharing between competing companies may benefit the consumer. There are some information sharing activities that are not good for the consumer though, such as price agreements and market sharing etc. "The Pros and Cons of Information Sharing" tackles these issues and how the competition authorities should act in the light of recent research.
Price discrimination exists in different forms and it is a phenomenon which can have both positive and negative effects for the consumers as well as for welfare. The analysis of price discrimination has deep roots in the economic discipline, where it has long been recognized that it can be for good and for bad – and sometimes even necessary.
The theme of the book "The Pros and Cons of Antitrust in Deregulated Markets" deals with the relationship between competition legislation and sectoral regulation. When is sector specific deregulation needed to steer the actions of undertakings and when is general legislation on competition sufficient?
Can prices be too low? Yes, if the dominant undertaking tries to eliminate its competitors through predatory pricing. In the long run this can lead to reduced competition and higher prices. In order to learn more about the difficult subject of predatory pricing, the Competition Authority invited leading researchers in the area to submit contributions to the anthology "The Pros and Cons of Low Prices".
In the book "The Pros and Cons of Merger Control" prominent economists evaluate how accurate the Commission has been for the last ten years in prohibiting anti-competitive concentrations and allowing those who promote competition.