Page 83 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

THE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SCIENCES: THEORY AND PRACTICE

single company could be allowed to duplicate the database and sell the

information on the market. The legal monopoly that the company enjoyed
could therefore be interpreted as imposing a duty to deal with everyone.

Evaluating the effects of business practiced on competition and

efficiency. In abuse of dominance or monopoly cases it is important to
ensure that the law does not inadvertently curb superior efficiency or

adoption of efficient business practices. Firms may achieve a dominant
position through methods that are perfectly legitimate (through innovation,

adoption of superior production or distribution methods, or greater
entrepreneurial efforts). Moreover, many practices that appear to be anti-

competitive (vertical market restraints, such as tying or exclusive dealing

requirements) can serve legitimate procompetitive purposes.
Determining whether these practices are, in fact, pro- or anticompetitive is a

question that should normally be resolved on a case-by-case basis. This will

involve reviewing the full implication of evidence and findings of fact estab-
lishing that firms occupy a dominant position and have engaged in

anticompetitive actions. Thus a firm under investigation may have a high market
share, and there may be substantial barriers to entry that would normally support a

finding of dominance. Before reaching a final decision, however, the competition
authority should consider alternative explanations for structural dominance, such

as whether an industry has the characteristics of a natural monopoly. Furthermore,

an absence of multiple, independent suppliers in a market at any given time does
not necessarily imply that competition has been suppressed, if there are minimal

barriers to entry and evidence indicates that the market position of individual
firms has shifted over time. Rather, it may be that competition within the market

has been supplanted by potential competition.
The views of affected consumers are essential in an analysis of the

impact of business practices. The issue to be resolved in abuse cases (as in

82