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The Consistency of Merger Decisions at the S outh A frican C ompetition C ommission
Author(s) -
Grimbeek Sunel,
Koch Steve,
Grimbeek Richard
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
south african journal of economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.502
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1813-6982
pISSN - 0038-2280
DOI - 10.1111/saje.12005
Subject(s) - commission , competition (biology) , legislature , consistency (knowledge bases) , business , legislative process , economics , political science , finance , law , computer science , ecology , artificial intelligence , biology
The S outh A frican C ompetition C ommission's merger decisions for fiscal year ( FY ) 2002 through FY 2009 are analysed to empirically identify the factors historically influencing prohibition, conditional approval and unconditional approval, as well as the factors historically influencing whether merger applications are deemed non‐complex, complex or very complex. The focus of the analysis is on whether or not the historical process has remained consistent through time, and whether or not that process can be obviously linked to the provisions of the 1998 C ompetition A ct. Initial results point to behaviour that is not consistent over the time period considered; however, those inconsistencies are removed, once additional measures of market contestibility, associated with the 1998 C ompetition A ct are included in the analysis. The final results suggest that the commission is less likely to approve mergers that they link to markets that are less contestable. In addition to protecting competition, the commission is simultaneously protecting other public interests. Therefore, our research supports the hypothesis that the commission consistently applies its legislative remit.