Izvorni znanstveni članak
Concentration of entrepreneurs and the relevant market - Legal and economic aspects
Jasminka Pecotić Kaufman
orcid.org/0000-0002-3598-7090
; Ekonomski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sunčana Slijepčević
orcid.org/0000-0001-6185-4921
; Ekonomski institut Zagreb, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
The identification and definition of a relevant market is the starting point when analyzing the concentration of entrepreneurs and it is a precondition for making proper assessments of the effect of this on market competition. The effects of concentration on market competition are determined in relation to the product market and to a particular geographic market. In spite of its importance, the problem is still inadequately covered in Croatian literature. One of the reasons for this is that it is not possible to adopt unique criteria in determining relevant markets. The paper discusses fundamental legal rules for determining relevant markets in the law of the European Union and in Croatian law. Furthermore, the analysis includes fourteen decisions of the Croatian Competition Agency with regard to the supervision of concentration of entrepreneurs, especially the ways and criteria used for identifying the relevant market with regard to production and geography. Furthermore, European case law is compared with that of the Croatian Competition Agency. The basic criteria for defining the relevant production and geographic market are identified on the basis of the analysis of the decisions of the Croatian Competition Agency. The purpose of defining the limits of the relevant market is to recognize true competitors who differ from those whose behaviour does not fall within the scope of competitive pressure. The paper proceeds from the hypothesis that, although there are certain similarities between individual cases in Croatian practice, the identification of the relevant productive and geographic market is largely based on arbitrary case by case assessments, and only in rare cases on quantitative analyses. The hypothetical monopolist test (SSNIP-test) is not used in Croatia. The detailed analysis of specific cases shows that the decision of the Agency is based on assessment of competitive pressures by analyzing substitutability of demand, and not the substitutability of offer and potential competition.
Ključne riječi
market competition law; supervision of concentration of entrepreneurs; relevant production market; relevant geographical market; market force; substitutability of demand; substitutability of offer
Hrčak ID:
59892
URI
Datum izdavanja:
27.10.2010.
Posjeta: 4.172 *