НЕСОВЕРШЕННАЯ КОНКУРЕНЦИЯ В АПК, АНТИМОНОПОЛЬНАЯ ПОЛИТИКА В ОТНОШЕНИИ АГРОПРОМЫШЛЕННЫХ ОБЪЕДИНЕНИЙ В СОВРЕМЕННОЙ РОССИИ

Modernising the Law on Abuse of Market Power: Report for the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (Germany)

At present, the reform of the power market is progressing steadily. To ensure the efficient and healthy operation of the power market, there is an urgent need to strengthen the credit supervision of the electricity market entities. Identifying violations of power generation companies' abuse of market power is a key task in the credit supervision of power market entities. Traditional power generation companies' abuse of market power identification mainly relies on expert decision-making. However, with the increase in market transaction volume, expert decision-making cannot meet the needs of work, and an intelligent identification method suitable for computer analysis must be proposed. This paper first proposes a quantitative definition of abuse of market power, and then takes into account the specific data characteristics of the electricity market, and proposes a method of identifying violations of power generation companies based on improved cost-sensitive support vector machines. Finally, the power market simulation experiment data set labeled by the definition method is used for training and testing. The test results show that the abuse of market power by power generation companies can be quickly and accurately identified, which verifies the effectiveness of the proposed method.

‘Monopolies and the abuse of market power’ studies monopolies and the abuse of market power. The first step in applying competition law to misuse of market power is the identification of such power. How powerful should you be to be deemed to have market power that could trigger antitrust intervention? Many jurisdictions will use the benchmark of ‘dominant position’, some will use ‘monopoly power’ or ‘monopolization’, while others may focus on the presence of ‘superior bargaining position’. There is a difference in approach between the US and EU competition laws which can be seen through several categories of abuse and monopolization, including predatory pricing, excessive pricing, and refusal to supply or license.

The article touches upon the issues of execution of supervisory and regulatory functions of state executive bodies - the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) in relation to the domestic agro-industrial complex. The procedure for regulating wholesale prices in the markets of agricultural raw materials and food products is analyzed. The importance of intervention purchases of grain for stabilizing wholesale prices and supporting the income of agricultural producers is assessed. It is shown that the MOA regulates inter-industry relations in the agro-industrial complex mainly by influencing the sphere of market supply. Attention is paid to the activities of the FAS, aimed mainly at preventing violations of antimonopoly legislation. It is noted that in recent years, on the instructions of the Government, the FAS has ceased to consider pricing agreements between state organizations and economic entities as unacceptable interference in free market pricing. The expediency of strengthening the regulation of the activities of network retail trade in food products is substantiated. The topic of improving the methods of state support for agriculture is touched upon.

The role of trademark rights expansion in the formation and abuse of market power

At the present stage of development of the agro-industrial complex (AIC), the role of scientific research and the implementation of their results in the agrarian sector has significantly increased. This is due to the activation of the agricultural sector in the innovation sphere and the emergence of a new form of financing capital investments for agricultural enterprises, i.e. risk capital. The transition of the agro-industrial complex economy to an innovative track makes it possible to pursue a flexible policy in relation to the competitiveness of products. The active introduction of digital technologies in the production and marketing of agricultural products is aimed at bringing society and industry to a new technological level. Advantages of digital technologies: introduction of remote operation, reduction of the cost of manufactured products, free access to the market for all agribusiness entities, facilitation of data collection and processing operations, etc. As technologies continue to develop, digital technologies also continue to expand, since the range of goods and services in the agro-industrial sector of the national economy is constantly growing. However, studies have shown that not all companies in the agricultural sector in the Russian market have the opportunity to implement an innovation policy, and most importantly, not everyone knows how to attract investment in their project and get financial benefits from it. The work revealed the reasons that hinder the work of the agro-industrial complex of the Russian Federation. On the basis of the research carried out, the forms of organizing innovation processes were proposed, which are most acceptable for the functioning of agricultural organizations. These forms may in the future help to overcome the problems in the modernization of the agro-industrial complex economy. In accordance with the peculiarities of the nature of production in the agricultural sector, criteria for assessing the innovativeness of enterprises were determined, which makes it possible to choose the direction of investment.

Foreign direct investment with host country market structures, with empirical application to Japan

In general, capitalist countries display sustained growth, dynamism and innovation, and a high adaptability in response to external shocks. Yet in the last twenty years discontent over the notorious drawbacks of capitalism – corporate frauds, corruption, abuses of market power – has grown continually. In this paper, we argue that no remedy to these difficulties can be found if ethical dilemmas are not anticipated and addressed at the individual, firm and economy-wide level. While pro-ethical changes in business regulation would help, government action alone may not be effective enough. Given that the social sciences provide the general framework of reference for human action, better integration of the ethical dimension by these disciplines would bring about additional benefits. In particular, economic theory would gain from developing more in-depth reflection on human end-goals and values.

Foreign Direct Investment With Host Country Market Structures and Policy Implications

Abuse of Market Power: The End of 'Make-Believe' Analysis?

The Northern Territory Power Generation Case: Government Owned Businesses Required to Comply with Trade Practices Act Standards of Competition Behaviour

The Israeli citrus export sector was liberalized in 1991 with the aim to increase citrus growers’ income and to improve overall efficiency of the international citrus marketing channel. However, the former government export monopoly’s activities were mainly taken over by four large companies accounting for over 90% of total Israeli citrus market exports. In addition, citrus exporters maintained the monopoly’s consignment system, substantially limiting transparency on how the grower price is determined. This lead the government to intervene in the newly liberalized market by implementing a minimum price agreement in the 1994/95 season to protect citrus growers against exporters’ abuse of market power. In this paper we analyze whether market power was exerted by exporting companies over citrus growers in the form of asymmetric price transmission. Our study is unique in that it investigates vertical price transmission across international borders, i.e. in the context of Israeli grapefruit exports to France. We explicitly account for possible changes in exporters’ pricing behaviour in the post-liberalization period. We apply an error correction model (ECM) to disaggregated firm-level Israeli grower price and French import price data. An ECM is estimated individually for each of the major exporting companies within a seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) framework. We find asymmetric price transmission in the first years after liberalisation, but symmetry in the second half of the 1990s. Our results indicate that growers’ losses due to asymmetry amounted to as much as 2.5% of their total revenues. Our results suggest that liberalization improved the efficiency of the Israeli citrus international marketing channel, but that this took time and was probably accelerated by government intervention.

An Error Cost Approach to Competition Issues in Closed gTLDs

The agricultural sector is an essential strategic branch of Ukraine's national economy and guarantees our country's food security and self-sufficiency. The modern agro-industrial complex is an essential sector of Ukraine's economy. The agricultural sector forms food security, realizes economic, ecological, and energy security within certain limits, guarantees the development of technologically related branches of the national economy, and creates socio-economic conditions for developing rural areas. The article describes the current state of Ukraine's agro-industrial complex and its development features. The significance of agriculture for the national economy is determined. Trends in the development of rural areas, employment, and unemployment, and the influence of internal and external factors on these processes are analyzed. The problems of material and technical, investment, and financial support of the agro-industrial complex have been identified. It is shown that the decline of the agro-industrial complex affects the processing industry. The prerequisites for developing Ukraine's agrarian sector in the conditions of market formation and ways of solving strategic issues of ensuring national food security and competitiveness of the agro-food complex on domestic and foreign markets are highlighted. It is proposed to continue improving the mechanisms of co-financing of key economic measures and programs aimed at the development of agriculture, considering the solution of the national tasks of creating a single economic space and equalizing the living conditions of the rural population. One of the strategic directions for developing the agro-industrial complex should be state support for farmers. The agricultural sector has the potential to double the production of agricultural products. A prerequisite for the effective development of the agro-industrial complex is ensuring adaptation to changes in the external environment, which is possible only based on a strategic approach to managing the agro-industrial complex. Keywords: agriculture, market, potential, management, agro-industrial complex, agro-industrial cluster, agro-industrial integration.

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the modern legal components of information and legal regulation of management activities in the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine. The main theoretical and legal tasks of information and legal regulation, its purpose, objectives and impact on the efficiency of management processes in the agro-industrial complex are determined. The concept of information and legal regulation as a tool for ensuring the sustainable development of the agro-industrial complex, which ensures the implementation of digital technologies, electronic document flow, automation of processes and mechanisms for information protection, is revealed. The main aspects of information and legal regulation of management activities in the agricultural sector are outlined, taking into account the peculiarities of legal support for information interaction between subjects of the agro-industrial complex, the use of digital platforms, e-government and intelligent management systems. The structure and scope of functioning of the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine are analyzed, the main directions of information and legal regulation of key components of industries are determined. Particular attention is paid to the legal mechanisms of information regulation in the agricultural sector, in particular the issues of regulatory and legal support for cybersecurity, protection of information resources, introduction of electronic registers, as well as the use of key information systems and digital tools to increase the efficiency of management in the agro-industrial complex. The issue of state policy in the field of digitalization of management activities in the agricultural sector is separately considered, including the introduction of modern standards for information exchange, integration of blockchain technologies, development of artificial intelligence and analytical platforms for forecasting agricultural production. The article also examines the impact of military operations on the territory of Ukraine on the activities of the agro-industrial complex, in particular the problems of logistics, ensuring food security, access to digital resources and the functioning of information systems in crisis conditions. Measures aimed at minimizing risks associated with sanctions and military challenges are analyzed, and ways to increase the resilience of the agro-industrial sector are opened by introducing modern digital solutions and adapting legal regulation to new conditions. As a result, it was concluded that improving the information and legal regulation of management activities in the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine is an urgent task that requires a comprehensive approach and deep integration of digital technologies. The introduction of effective legal mechanisms for regulation, modernization of the regulatory framework, strengthening information security and digitalization of management processes contribute to the development of the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine, its adaptation to the challenges of modernity and ensuring the country’s food security.