The competition assessment of laws and regulations helps governments to identify regulatory barriers to competition and to develop alternative, more pro-competitive measures that still achieve government policy objectives, such as supporting the green transition. 

The OECD Recommendation on Competition Assessment calls for governments to introduce an appropriate process for the competition assessment of existing or proposed public policies. The OECD Competition Assessment Toolkit is a methodology that public officials can use to review laws and regulations through a competition lens.

In performing competition assessment, governments should give particular attention to policies that limit:

• The number or range of market participants;
• The actions that market participants can take;
• The incentives of market participants to behave in a competitive manner;
• The choices and information available to consumers.

Market studies are a versatile holistic tool for competition authorities to analyse whether competition in a market is working effectively, looking at a wide range of factors beyond regulatory barriers and providing an opportunity for authorities to assess competition outside of allegations of companies breaching the law. This also makes market studies well suited to understanding, and promoting, competition in emerging markets.

If competition is not working well, authorities can identify recommendations to address any issues and allow consumers to enjoy the benefits of competition. These recommendations could include proposals for regulatory reform, improving information flows to consumers, or the opening of antitrust investigations. The OECD has developed a Market Studies Guide to help competition authorities conduct such studies and can also run in-country projects to conduct market studies in a sector in that country or to help their competition authority build capacity to do so.

A regulatory framework and public policies that treat all competitors in a similar way are key for competition to work properly and deliver benefits to consumers and the wider economy. 

When markets work well, they allocate resources efficiently and can maximise welfare. Markets, however, may not always work effectively or achieve desired outcomes and therefore state intervention may be helpful. State intervention can sometimes distort competition within a market. If the state grants artificial advantages to certain enterprises, it can distort competition in domestic and international markets. It is therefore important that state intervention, such as industrial strategies to foster growth and resilience, goes hand in hand with competitive neutrality principles.

The OECD Recommendation on Competitive Neutrality calls for governments to ensure a level playing field between state-owned and privately-owned enterprises, between different privately-owned enterprises and between domestic and foreign enterprises. It focusses on the following policy areas:

• Competition law and enforcement
• Regulatory environment
• Public procurement
• State support
• Compensation for public service obligations

The OECD Competitive Neutrality Toolkit can assist public officials to identify public policies that may distort the level playing field and develop alternatives that minimise such distortions. 

Competition authorities increasingly publish measures of the expected benefits of their activities on consumers. These measures allow them to present in a concise manner the contribution that their decisions on mergers and antitrust infringements brings to society.

They often complement these ex-ante estimates with ex-post analyses of the actual effects of enforcement decisions a few years after these are taken. Ex-post evaluation is a tool that can help competition authorities better understand the impact of their interventions and to improve future decision making.

The OECD has developed widely used guides that support competition authorities in assessing the expected impact of their activities and in conducting ex-post evaluations of their cases.

Exploring the intersection between competition and gender is part of a trend questioning whether competition policy should play a role in promoting broader policy objectives and reducing inequalities in society.

The OECD has developed a Gender Inclusive Competition Toolkit that shows that, by actively incorporating gender considerations into their daily work, competition authorities have the potential to improve the effectiveness and impact of their initiatives while fostering a more competitive, resilient, and inclusive economy.