INTRENATIONAL ISSUES ABOUT COMPETITION IN THE GLOBALIZED WORLD: INCREASING POWER OF TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Year 2010, Volume: 12 Issue: 2, 197 - 218, 01.12.2010

Sibel Çaşkurlu

Abstract

In the era of globalization, the line between trade and competition policies is
getting blurred. The developments like elimination of trade restrictions,
liberalization of capital flows and rapid technological improvements have changed
conditions of competition deeply. By definition, trade policy deals with competition
issues behind the boundaries of the country, whereas competition policy within those
boundaries. But in open economy conditions, many international anticompetitive
practices like international cartels, and mergers and acquisitions with international
spillovers occur.
In this context, there has been a long discussion on whether trade related
international issues about competition should be included in the WTO agenda or
not. The proposal in this direction was announced at Singapore Ministerial
Conference in 1996 for the first time. At Cancun Ministerial Conference in 2003 this
issue was decided to be removed from the WTO agenda. But on the ground that
trade related international competition issues are getting important, the discussion
about these subjects didn’t cease in the international arena.
In this study, the increasing power of transnational corporations is particularly
emphasized. Of course, the presence of transnational corporations is not new. But
with the process of globalization their weight and global domination in global
markets have increased apparently. Transnational firms have a leading role in
international cartel formations. International cartels can create serious barriers of
entry for other producers and have negative effects on consumers. Now that
transnational corporations are backed by their country of origin, even developed
countries find themselves in severe difficulties in getting information and legal help
from other countries about cartel firms and their activities. In this context,
developing countries have much bigger problems. Certainly, a developing country
would have more difficulties in pushing a developed country to cooperate in a cartel
investigation against a cartelist transnational firm its own country of origin.
Moreover, in case of a cartelist transnational firm has important weight and
dominance in a sector of a developing country, that country may refrain from
cooperation in a cartel investigation against the cartelist firm. Developing countries
may endure negative effects of cartels for not to loose production and employment
created in their countries by cartelist firms.
On the other hand, mergers and acquisitions between big transnational
corporations can form a new firm with stronger market power and affect some third
country markets and even industries tremendously. In order to protect their firms’
benefits, developed countries monitor mergers and acquisitions of foreign
transnational firms and bargain with each other effectively. However, even if
developing countries monitor transnational firms’ mergers and acquisitions and
doubt to face a potential harm, they wouldn’t have the necessary power to oppose it.
Furthermore, in many industries, industrial concentration has deepened. In this
context, global oligopolies constitute another international problem area that blurs
the line between trade and competition policies. By cooperating in developing the
highest technology, global oligopolist firms can create serious entry barriers for
developing country firms.
In the light of the issues discussed in this study, it is understood that trade
liberalization doesn’t always end up in perfect competition conditions. Now that
there are asymmetrical power relations between transnational corporations of
developed countries and small and medium sized firms of developing countries,
enhancing of market access opportunities may not serve automatically to enhance
competition in domestic markets. It is obvious that, in order to be able to compete in
domestic and global markets, developing country firms have to be and stay
competitive. Reminding that nearly half of the WTO members don’t have domestic
competition laws, this study recommends that developing countries should be more
aware of the international aspects of the competition issues and build their own
appropriate national competition laws designed for their own needs.

Keywords

Trade policy, competition policy, transnational corporations

KÜRESELLEŞEN DÜNYADA REKABETE İLİŞKİN ULUSLARARASI SORUNLAR: ÇOKULUSLU ŞİRKETLERİN ARTAN GÜCÜ VE GELİŞMEKTE OLAN ÜLKELER

Abstract

Bu çalışmada, küreselleşmeyle birlikte ticaret ve rekabet politikaları arasındaki sınırın bulanıklaşması, ticaret ve rekabet politikalarının iç içe geçmesi üzerinde durulmaktadır. Bu çerçevede, rekabete ilişkin ticaretle bağlantılı uluslararası sorunların ağırlığı giderek artmaktadır. Uzun bir tartışma döneminden sonra, konunun Dünya Ticaret Örgütü(DTÖ) kapsamına alınmaması yönünde karar verilmiş olmakla birlikte, ortaya çıkan uluslararası meselelerin ışığında konu güncelliğini sürdürmektedir. Ticaretle ilişkili rekabete ilişkin uluslararası sorun alanlarının başında uluslararası karteller, üçüncü ülkeler üzerinde taşma etkileri olan birleşmeler ve uluslararası oligopoller gelmektedir. Her üç durum da, küreselleşmeyle birlikte ekonomik ağırlıkları ve hâkimiyetleri önemli ölçüde artan çokuluslu şirketlerle yakından ilgilidir. Serbest ticarete yönelerek iç piyasalarını dış rekabete açan gelişmekte olan ülkeler, gerek iç, gerek dış piyasalarda çokuluslu şirketlerle rekabet etmek durumunda kalmaktadırlar. Gelişmekte olan ülkelerin(GOÜ) gerek uluslararası karteller, gerek taşma etkileri olan birleşmeler konusunda haklarını arayabilmeleri olanakları son derece sınırlıdır. Uluslararası oligopoller ise, gelişmekte olan ülkelerin uluslararası piyasalarda rekabetçiliğini önemli ölçüde engellemektedir. O nedenle, bu çalışmada özellikle gelişmekte olan ülkelerin çokuluslu şirketler karşısındaki konumları üzerinde durulmaktadır.

Keywords

Ticaret politikası, rekabet politikası, çokuluslu şirketler