Abstract
Innovation is usually thought of as a change in the fundamentals of an economy, which can require adjustments by policy-makers. The latter are usually thought as in regard to a dominant vision, which is to restore an optimal market structure, and leads to a competition policy mainly aimed at controlling for antitrust practices and limiting market power. In this paper, we favor another vision of innovation, as a discovery process that cannot allow ex ante a definition of best practices. Dealing with information issues in two different and alternative perspectives, we argue that antitrust authorities confront a market imperfection–market failure dilemma (MI–MF dilemma) which leads them to favor the existence of appreciative and discretionary policy rather than encouraging the existence of any market structure thought of as optimal as regards the current state of information. We conclude with policy implications, contrasting the EU with the US.
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This paper was presented at the 10th International J.A. Schumpeter Society Conference on Innovation, Industrial Dynamics and Structural Transformation: Schumpeterian Legacies, Milan 2004. It owes very much to the collaboration of J-L Gaffard with M. Amendola in the recent years. However he is not responsible for the way we have taken advantage of it.
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Gaffard, JL., Quéré, M. What’s the aim for competition policy: optimizing market structure or encouraging innovative behaviors?. J Evol Econ 16, 175–187 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00191-005-0014-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00191-005-0014-0