ABSTRACT
The debate about the purpose of antitrust or competition rules in general usually comes to the fore in consideration of exclusionary or anticompetitive conduct of large firms. While any answer to such a question may not command unity among commentators, what is certain is that markets may not function properly when faced with efforts to substitute private goals for the adjustment built into the notion of a competitive market structure. In economic terms, society is said to be better off when markets aspire towards the idea of the economic model of perfect competition, where no single buyer or producer possesses the ability to control the setting of prices or quantities to be supplied. Under such conditions, adequate resources are said to be used in the production of goods and services, and their distribution is efficiently employed – that is, consumer welfare is maximized through increases in both productive and allocative efficiency.
