Competition And Regulation For Inclusive Growth In Southern Africa

Shaping markets through competition and economic regulation is at the heart of addressing the development challenges facing countries in southern Africa. The contributors to Competition Law and Economic Regulation: Addressing Market Power in southern Africa critically assess the efficacy of the competition and economic regulation frameworks, including the impact of a number of the regional competition authorities in a range of sectors throughout southern Africa. Featuring academics as well as practitioners in the field, the book addresses issues common to southern African countries, where markets are small and concentrated, with particularly high barriers to entry, and where the resources to enforce legislation against anti-competitive conduct are limited. What is needed, the contributors argue, is an understanding of competition and regional integration as part of an inclusive growth agenda for Africa. By examining competition and regulation in a single framework, and viewing this within the southern African experience, this volume adds new perspectives to the global competition literature. It is an essential reference tool and will be of great interest to policymakers and regulators, as well as the rapidly growing ecosystem of legal practitioners and economists engaged in the field.

Shaping markets through competition and economic regulation is at the heart of addressing the development challenges facing countries in southern Africa. The contributors to Competition Law and Economic Regulation: Addressing Market Power in southern Africa critically assess the efficacy of the competition and economic regulation frameworks, including the impact of a number of the regional competition authorities in a range of sectors throughout southern Africa. Featuring academics as well as practitioners in the field, the book addresses issues common to southern African countries, where markets are small and concentrated, with particularly high barriers to entry, and where the resources to enforce legislation against anti-competitive conduct are limited. What is needed, the contributors argue, is an understanding of competition and regional integration as part of an inclusive growth agenda for Africa. By examining competition and regulation in a single framework, and viewing this within the southern African experience, this volume adds new perspectives to the global competition literature. It is an essential reference tool and will be of great interest to policymakers and regulators, as well as the rapidly growing ecosystem of legal practitioners and economists engaged in the field.

Sustainable economic development has played a major role in the decline of global poverty in the past two decades. There is no doubt that competitive markets are key drivers of economic growth and productivity. They are also valuable channels for consumer welfare. Competition policy is a powerful tool for complementing efforts to alleviate poverty and bring about shared prosperity. An effective competition policy involves measures that enable contestability and firm entry and rivalry, while ensuring the enforcement of antitrust laws and state aid control. Governments from emerging and developing economies are increasingly requesting pragmatic solutions for effective competition policy implementation, as well as recommendations for pro-competitive sectoral policies. A Step Ahead: Competition Policy for Shared Prosperity and Inclusive Growth puts forward a research agenda that advocates the importance of market competition, effective market regulation, and competition policies for achieving inclusive growth and shared prosperity in emerging and developing economies. It is the result of a global partnership and shared commitment between the World Bank Group and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Part I of the book brings together existing empirical evidence on the benefits of competition for household welfare. It covers the elimination of anticompetitive practices and regulations that restrict competition in key markets and highlights the effects of competition on small producers and employment. Part II of the book focuses on the distributional effects of competition policies and how enforcement can be better aligned with shared prosperity goals.

Regulating Development examines the impact that regulation good or bad can have on the development of poorer societies. It opens with a succinct review of critical issues, including the implications of the spread of intellectual property rights legislation and the role of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The volume examines the regulatory experiences of three important developing economies: Brazil, Ghana and South Africa. Key regulatory themes are analysed, most notably capital markets and corporate governance regulation, the regulation of the telecommunications sector and the use of regulatory reforms to promote the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises. Within each chapter policy lessons are drawn, the relevance of which extend well beyond national or even regional boundaries. The principal aim of the book is to show the extent to which regulation is moving increasingly to centre stage as a driver of development in Africa and Latin America. The book also demonstrates how thoughtful, well-planned regulation can make a real contribution to the emergence of supply-side competitiveness. This book will be invaluable reading for academics, researchers and students with an interest in economics and development studies, as well as for regulators and policymakers in developing countries.

"What does it take for entrepreneurs to be effective competitors? What are the factors affecting entry and participation in sectors where there are historically strong incumbent firms? Opening the South African Economy brings to light the challenges of concentration, inequality and exclusion in different sectors of the South African economy. The book begins with an assessment of the current state of the economy. Detailed case studies then recount the experiences - good and bad - of well-known South African entrant firms in sectors that are critical for facilitating economic growth, including retail, food, fuel, telecommunications, airlines and banking. Important cross-cutting chapters reflect on the role that government policies can play in achieving a more open, inclusive and competitive economy and the use (and misuse) of policy tools such as competition law, black economic empowerment and state procurement. It concludes with a set of concrete recommendations for opening up the South African economy, improved coordination among state institutions and inclusive industrial development."--Back cover

Taking South Africa as an important case study of the challenges of structural transformation, the book offers a new micro-meso level framework and evidence linking country-specific and global dynamics of change, with a focus on the current challenges and opportunities faced by middle-income countries.

Dictated by overall (economic, social, political, technological, etc) realities that unfold at different times, the growth and development dictums have been reshaped and reframed continually, in an effort to accommodate and respond to emerging issues. Within the overarching theme of sustainable development, human development and inclusive growth and development are, for example, among the recent focuses of the global and national development agenda. The backdrop to this is that as individuals, communities, and societies get richer, the worrying levels of inequalities, exclusion and disparities are becoming an area of concern, drawing the attention of governments, planners, civil societies, researchers and academia. An overarching current issue has been an appreciation of high economic growth in the last 10 years, but which is marred by pervasive levels of poverty and inequality. Indeed, Africa, through Agenda 2063, has acknowledged the need for inclusive and sustainable development, as is also the commitment of the Sustainable Development Goals (Agenda 2030) of the United Nations.Edited by Prof. Herman Musahara, this anthology entitled Inclusive Growth and Development Issues in Eastern and Southern Africa presents issues, challenges and progress in Rwanda, Mauritius, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Uganda. The issues covered include: trade; rural-urban linkages; the dynamics of poverty, vulnerability, and welfare; social policies for inclusive and sustainable development; productivity and informality; and financial direct support systems to the poor. The chapters are based on first-hand data, secondary data from different databases and systematic reviews of academic literature. Drawing on the findings and conclusions of the individual chapters, the book distills together the key lessons and also puts forth recommendations for policy and practice. As such, it is a good reading for researchers, policy and decision makers, academia and graduate students.