Has competition law enforcement been effective in South Africa

Bibliographic Data

ID21540908
AuthorsKarissa Moothoo Padayachie (University of Johannesburg, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume42
Issue2
Pages228-250
Publication date2025-03-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDevelopment Southern Africa (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0376-835X • E-ISSN: 1470-3637
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0376835x.2024.2408655
OpenAlexW4403090448
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited37

The South African Competition Act was crafted on the basis that it could be used to address distortions and inequalities in the market through enforcing competition. A question which has arisen is whether competition enforcement has been effective given that many economic sectors are still largely dominated by monopolies, duopolies or oligopolies. In this study, I assess whether competition enforcement has reduced inequality in South Africa by studying the link between market power and inequality, following a competition intervention in selected product markets. Using the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag model, I assess whether competition enforcement in the market for bread, maize meal, and sunflower oil, has been effective in increasing consumer welfare, by lowering income inequality through lower prices. The findings of this study suggest that firms in these markets abuse their market power even post-intervention, such that they can raise prices and reduce consumer welfare, increasing inequality indirectly

Business · Competition law · Development economics · Economics · Enforcement · International trade · Law and economics · Law enforcement · Market economy · Monopoly · Political science · Global trade and economics · Law · Merger and Competition Analysis · World Trade Organization Law

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