The Assessment and Regulation of Market Power in Australia

This book examines how market power is both assessed and regulated in Australia. Identifying a number of contentious questions concerning market power, it considers how such questions are resolved by the three key institutions: the Courts, the Australian Competition Tribunal and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The work provides a detailed longitudinal study of critical decisions and publications of each institution in order to understand: first, the general approach to such issues in Australia; and second, whether the institutions’ approaches are consistent, and – if they are not – to explore the significance of any inconsistencies. Specific areas of focus are: the reason(s) for which market power is regulated; whether a structural or strategic analysis is preferred; approaches to monopoly pricing and cross-subsidisation; and the impact of regulation on assessments of market power. The relationship between the structural and behavioural regulation of market power under Australian competition law, as well as the respective roles of the key institutions, are also considered.