Messages on the Benefits of Competition

It’s all in the messaging. (But it’s not all talk.) This section provides illustrative themes and talking points on the importance of competition policy and studies and links to empirical work to support them. The messages agencies use to promote competition policy and principles in the domestic arena are strikingly similar across jurisdictions. We speak the same language in articulating the benefits of competition, and we seek to enhance these messages by grounding them in empirical work.

The Advocacy Working Group seeks to support member advocacy activities by distilling common themes and messages on the benefits of competition which can be used by member agencies in their own advocacy work. Understanding the weight empirical evidence can add, each topic is followed by a collection of empirical studies and reports which support the principles and messages.

The genesis for this messages section of the Benefits Project was the 2009 Steering Group project, “The case for competition policy in difficult economic times.” With the threat of economic crisis looming, Steering Group members sought to support members’ advocacy within their own governments by writing a series of talking points about the importance of continued adhere to competition policy, and citing empirical support for the proposed messages. Competition agencies from all different parts of the globe and from varying levels of economic prosperity reported that they used this document in crafting their own messages.

Recognizing the potential for significant benefits from experience sharing, the Advocacy Working Group broadened the focus of this project to encompass more topics and more jurisdictions to create the messages found in these pages.

The messages are grouped according to topic: productivity and economic growth, innovation, industrial policy, economic recovery, poverty, development and by sectors: healthcare, professions, telecommunications, and energy.