Competition Policy in Bangladesh

Consumer Welfare: Different Perspectives
“Consumer welfare” has different meanings to different people. To the rich, who can afford the comforts of life, it usually concerns with the range of choice of goods and services. To the poor, who find it difficult to make ends meet, the most important concern is not choice but rather access to goods and services. Broadly speaking, the former aspect is more prevalent in the developed world. However, in developing countries, such as Bangladesh, the latter aspect is more important during the administration of competition policies. The different dimensions of consumer welfare need to be kept in view in order to make a market (economy) work efficiently.

Purpose of Competition Policy
Competition is an essential element in the efficient working of markets. It brings important benefits to the consumer by: * encouraging enterprise, innovation, efficiency and a widening of choice; * enabling consumers to buy the goods and services they want at the best possible price; * contributing to the national competitiveness.

By “competition policy,” economists usually mean intervention by public authorities for ensuring competition in the markets. The basic objectives of competition policies are designed to promote competition by preventing agreements between firms that lead to anti-competitive behavior either through explicit cartels or through tacit collusion. Such policies also deal with monopoly power in any market and the process of business concentration such as mergers and acquisitions.

The most important objectives of a competition policy are: * to protect the consumers’ interest by ensuring that they have greater choice in terms of price, quality and service * to regulate monopoly firms * to motivate competing players to increase their efficiency with a view to