As a result of low attention given towards corporate sustainability initiatives (CSI) which encompass economic, environmental, social, and governance aspects by companies to their host communities, this study examines the relationship between institutional factors such as economic constraints, and competition, and environmental policy towards CSI, as well as firm specific attributes such as company size and leverage on the Nigerian non-financial listed firms. Data were collected from the firms assessed and documented by global consensus rate of corporate social responsibility (CSRHUB) from 2018 to 2023. A total of 300 firm-year observations were considered using the annual reports and accounts of 50 sampled companies. The panel-corrected standard errors (PCSEs) and fixed generalised lease square (GLS) regression models were used to test the hypotheses for this study. The result established that economic constraints measured by access to finance is not significantly related to CSI. In contrast, competition and environmental policy are positive and significantly associated with CSI. Likewise, company size and leverage indicate a positive relationship with CSI. Hence, this study suggests that regulatory authorities should assess how the companies deal with issues relating economic constraints to ensure a good access to finance that could be responsible for sustainability initiative practices among non-financial firms in Nigeria.

This study examines the relationship between corporate concentration and labour market conditions in Hungary’s food industry over the period 1993–2022. Using industry-level panel data for the four most highly concentrated subsectors, cereals, food processing, oils and fats, and sugar and confectionery, corporate concentration is measured using the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI), and a two-way fixed-effects panel regression model is employed to assess its association with wage structures, working-time arrangements, and employment composition. The results reveal a statistically significant negative relationship between corporate concentration and both gross monthly earnings and base hourly wages. A 1000-point increase in the HHI is associated with an approximately 10 percent decline in base wages. Higher concentration is also positively associated with greater reliance on part-time employment and increased overtime intensity, alongside a significant reduction in paid leave provision. Importantly, when variables capturing working-time arrangements and employment structure are incorporated into the earnings model, the direct effect of concentration becomes statistically insignificant. This pattern likely reflects the fact that these variables are directly embedded in the determination of gross monthly earnings, suggesting that the effect of concentration operates indirectly through adjustments in working time and employment composition rather than through a purely independent channel. This finding suggests that the impact of concentration on wages operates partly through structural adjustments in compensation systems and increased labour flexibility. Overall, the evidence indicates that corporate concentration in Hungary’s food manufacturing sector does not necessarily reduce nominal earnings but instead reshapes their composition. The role of base wages weakens, while regular bonuses emerge as the primary mechanism of income adjustment, increasing managerial discretion and income volatility. These findings contribute to the literature on labour market monopsony in transition economies and underscore the importance of integrating labour market considerations into competition policy frameworks.

Market power and cost pass-through measure: A competition policy perspective Dr Ivi Theodoulou analyses market power and cost pass-through measures in this informative policy perspective. Economists use frameworks like Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) and New Empirical Industrial Organization (NEIO) to measure market power in their attempt to eliminate potential market power hindrance to achieve traditional economic objectives such as efficiency, innovation, and consumer welfare. The SCP framework links market structure (number of firms, concentration, barriers to entry) to firm conduct (pricing strategies, output decisions) and ultimately to market performance.

Abstract :This study looks at how competitive India is in exporting denim fabric in today’s changing global textile market. It analyses export performance using factors like growth trends, market reach, and comparative advantage based on HS code data. The study also considers the impact of global competition, shifting demand, and trade policies. The findings show that while India has a strong presence in denim exports, there is still scope to improve through better quality, innovation, and exploring new markets. Overall, the study highlights the need for strategic efforts to strengthen India’s position in the global denim industry. Keywords : Denim Fabric, Export Competitiveness, India, Global Textile Market, HS Codes, Market Diversification, Comparative Advantage, Trade Performance.

Trustbusters’ crackdown on big tech: An analysis of competition policy and antitrust enforcement efficacy as reflected in the securities market

The purpose of this article is to analyse the key trends in Ukraine’s foreign trade reorientation and institutional support of competition under the influence of war and European integration processes. The study focuses on trade reorientation indicators and institutional measures of competition policy rather than direct measurement of market competition. The study examines the dynamics of export flows and the scale of reorientation towards the EU market, analyses the activities of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine as the key regulator, and evaluates changes in logistics routes. The methodological basis includes system and comparative analysis, statistical and structural methods, documentary analysis of legal acts and reports of international organisations, as well as methods of synthesis and generalisation. The results show that the war has caused radical changes in foreign trade: the share of exports to the EU has exceeded 60%, but instability in the liberalisation regime creates risks of losing positions. The work of the Antimonopoly Committee has confirmed the importance of independent control, yet the unfinished reform of state aid remains a problem. Logistics have been rebuilt thanks to the “solidarity corridors”, but they require large-scale investment. In the long run, European integration is identified as the main driver of competitiveness and sustainable economic growth in Ukraine.

ABSTRACT This qualitative study investigates the motivations and experiences of Mainland Chinese students pursuing a Doctor of Education (EdD) in Hong Kong. Data was collected through in-depth individual interviews with eleven participants and analysed through an interpretative phenomenological approach. Through the theoretical lens of student agency, it becomes clear that students actively choose the EdD as a strategic compromise in their ‘credential quest’ to obtain a doctoral degree as well as ‘academic quest’ to pursue academic careers, amidst structural constraints of a competitive job market and perceived barriers to PhD entry. The findings demonstrate that students exercise their agency through both active and passive compromises to pursue largely academic aspirations by enrolling in EdD programmes. This strategic compromise influences how they approach their EdD studies, primarily for academic aspirations, and entails significant challenges for them to navigate their studies, which is further reinforced by institutional requirements and expectations for academic achievements of EdD students. This is a powerful illustration of ‘bounded agency’: strategic agents make rational choices under structural dynamics and conditions constrained by rising labour market competition, credentialism, academic hierarchies, and institutional policies, while their agency is channelled into a compromised pathway that creates a persistent struggle to align their academic aspirations with a professionally oriented programme. The findings of this study carry several important implications for higher education institutions, doctoral education, and EdD students.

ABSTRACT South Africa faces persistently high poverty and inequality alongside a highly concentrated economic structure, raising questions about whether merger control, especially public‐interest provisions, can contribute to poverty reduction. However, empirical evidence directly linking merger adjudication outcomes to poverty remains limited. This study examines how merger adjudications influence poverty incidence and poverty depth in South Africa, focusing on cumulative approved mergers (CMA), the share approved with conditions, and the share approved with barriers. Using household panel data from National Income Dynamics Survey (NIDS) Waves 3–5 (2012–2017) merged with Competition Commission merger records, and provincial panel data for 2010–2022 from Quantec, the study estimates poverty incidence with logit models and poverty depth with fixed effects (FE) and Heckman selection, complemented by province‐level FE, IV–FE and Driscoll–Kraay corrections for endogeneity and cross‐sectional dependence. The results show that merger activity is related to poverty incidence at the micro level, while conditions provide only weak mitigation and do not robustly reduce poverty depth. At the macro level, mean income reduces poverty and inequality increases poverty across poverty lines. Conditional approvals are associated with lower poverty headcounts, especially at lower‐bound and food poverty lines, whereas barrier‐related outcomes are linked to higher poverty incidence in models correcting for endogeneity. The findings support strengthening the targeting, enforceability and ex‐post monitoring of merger conditions, with particular attention to essential‐goods sectors and vulnerable consumers, and caution against reliance on barriers without complementary protections.

ABSTRACT This paper critically examines the European Union’s ‘Smart Specialisation’ framework for promoting competitiveness. To do so, we draw from the ‘East Asian Miracle’ state intervention scholarship, mainly Peter Evans’ concept of ‘embedded autonomy’ and Robert Wade’s ‘followership’/’leadership’ dichotomy. We argue that the ‘Smart Specialisation’ framework is inadequate for the EU to face its competitiveness challenges as it does not comprise the principles of ‘embedded autonomy’ and relies solely on the ‘followership’ mode of state action. While this framework establishes ‘embeddedness’ by integrating private entrepreneurs’ perspectives in the policy process, it lacks the ‘autonomy’ to properly assess and translate them into policy. This lack of autonomy renders policymaking vulnerable to capture by incumbent interests, reinforcing existing industrial paths rather than fostering structural change. Governments mainly ‘follow’ and support initiatives proposed by the private sector, as opposed to ‘leading’ the advancement of new initiatives. We further argue that this ‘followership trap’ is particularly nefarious given the EU’s lack of very large companies and its industrial structure mostly comprised of more traditional activities, which contrasts with the United States, dominated by corporate giants in more dynamic and forward-looking sectors. Finally, we call for a deep reflection on key tenets of European competitiveness policies.

ABSTRACT The Biden Administration pursued a set of ambitious competition policy initiatives in agriculture and agribusiness, primarily aimed at livestock and poultry supply chains, farm inputs, and food retailing. The initiatives included expanded antitrust enforcement; new US Department of Agriculture (USDA) contract regulations requiring poultry processors to disclose more information to growers; and USDA financial support for expanded capacity in meat processing. I summarize the initiatives, evaluate what we know about their likely impacts, and discuss open research and policy issues.

The increasingly complex global security environment demands that nations continuously adapt their defense strategies. In this context, defense diplomacy is no longer understood merely as a ceremonial activity, but as a strategic instrument that plays an important role in perception management, conflict prevention, and strengthening a nation’s strategic position. However, the effectiveness of defense diplomacy is largely determined by the performance of the organizations that carry it out, particularly in facing demands for strategic change, innovation, and sustainability synergy. This study aims to analyze strategic change in defense diplomacy and its implications for organizational performance from the perspective of innovation and sustainability synergy. The study uses a qualitative approach with a literature review method of relevant journal articles, academic books, and international institutional reports. Analysis was conducted through narrative and conceptual synthesis to identify patterns, relationships between variables, and research gaps. The results indicate that the organizational performance of defense diplomacy is significantly influenced by internal organizational factors, namely work engagement, communication effectiveness, and organizational facility, which are integrated through strategic change management. Innovation acts as the main driver of organizational adaptation to threat dynamics and technological developments, while sustainability synergy ensures that strategic changes can deliver long-term impact. This study provides a conceptual contribution in the form of an integrative framework that links strategic change in defense diplomacy with sustainable improvement of organizational performance, and can serve as a reference for the development of adaptive and competitive defense policies.

This article examines the theoretical and applied aspects of the formation of a competitive market environment in the national economy of Azerbaijan and assesses its current state.Particular attention is paid to the institutional and legal mechanisms for developing a competitive environment, as well as the impact of public policy on creating a level playing field.Based on an analysis of macroeconomic indicators, market structure, and the level of concentration in individual sectors of the economy, key trends and challenges in the development of competition in Azerbaijan are identified.The paper examines antitrust regulation measures and areas for improving competition policy in the context of economic modernization and diversification.

This article examines exclusionary clauses applied across networks in multi-sided markets and focuses on how revenue-sharing agreements between different types of application developers and mobile device manufacturers impact competition and consumer welfare. The study examines why incumbent market players resort to exclusionary contracts and how the competition policies applied affect the welfare of users, mobile device manufacturers, and application developers. Using a game theory model, the author shows that excluding a newcomer’s application prior to installation reduces welfare when users must incur costs to install the newcomer’s app. An incumbent developer’s motive in seeking an exclusionary contract lies in the additional profits accrued by monopolizing the digital advertising market through control of the flow of users’ personal data. These profits enable incumbents to compensate manufacturers for blocking the installation by default of a newcomer's application. A key finding from the model is that market structure is determined not by users and advertisers, whose interaction via applications creates value, but by application developers and mobile device manufacturers, who are intermediaries in the interaction between users and advertisers. The model compares the policy of prohibiting exclusionary contracts when they negatively affect consumer welfare with the policy of a choice screen, which allows users to select independently the apps they would like to use when they first launch their mobile device. The choice screen policy is preferable because its implementation removes the incentive for established developers to pursue alternative methods of blocking new entrants to the market.

ABSTRACT This article analyses the domestic agency in Italy’s course towards privatization, situating it within the broader economic adjustment process that unfolded between the 1980s and the early 1990s. It argues that privatization resulted from a contested and lengthy internal redefinition of the state’s economic role. Italian authorities pursued early market-oriented reforms to rationalize public enterprises and enhance national competitiveness well before embracing a full privatization agenda. Yet, these efforts increasingly clashed with the European Commission’s evolving priorities, particularly regarding competition policy. Domestic actors tactically shaped and often amplified these tensions, frequently framing Brussels as an obstacle to legitimate national interests. As macroeconomic conditions deteriorated, fiscal adjustment became a pressing exigency. The 1992 crisis marked a turning point, prompting a decisive shift towards privatization as a tool to stabilize the economy and reassure markets. By emphasizing the role of domestic agency in both managing adjustment and constructing the tensions surrounding it, the article first questions the idea of an exogenously imposed neoliberal transformation, it complicates the picture of the supranational influence of the European Commission in promoting a pro-market agenda, and it contributes to a better understanding of the contested and multifaceted economic adjustment that many countries in the continent achieved in the late twentieth century.

ABSTRACT We examine how cross‐ownership influences firms' endogenous R&D risk‐taking in a Cournot triopoly, where two “insider” firms hold passive equity stakes in each other, and a third firm remains unaffiliated. Firms invest in stochastic R&D that lowers marginal costs and choose their risk level—measured by outcome variance—prior to quantity competition. Cross‐ownership affects insiders through financial alignment and R&D spillovers, both intensifying with stronger equity links. Solving the two‐stage game, we find that cross‐ownership yields asymmetric, nonlinear impacts on innovation strategy. When spillover sensitivity is low, insiders undertake higher‐risk R&D than the outsider; when sensitivity is high, this ranking may reverse. Increased cross‐ownership always dampens the outsider's R&D risk, while insiders' risk rises with cross‐holdings when spillovers are weak, but follows a U‐shaped pattern when spillovers are strong. Enabling R&D collaboration does not affect the outsider, but can reduce insiders' risk‐taking when spillovers are substantial. However, when spillovers are exogenous and independent of equity ties, insiders' risk increases monotonically with cross‐ownership. These results identify information‐sharing sensitivity as the key moderator of ownership networks' innovation risk‐taking, offering implications for competition and innovation policy.

This article offers an analysis of the specific challenges that direct financial markets, such as money markets, markets for derivatives, currencies and bonds, pose to competition policy. These markets often fall outside the scope of tools developed in the context of traditional competition analysis, particularly those derived from theories based on the Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) paradigm. Drawing on a comprehensive review of the theoretical and empirical literature, we examine several fundamental issues related to competition policy in direct financial markets. First, we explore the question of market power and concentration in this sector from the theory point of view. Second, we discuss specific types of anticompetitive behaviour, such as collusion on benchmark prices, the potentially anti-competitive effects of information-sharing mechanisms and the growing role of algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI). We highlight the need to adapt the analytical frameworks and tools of competition policy in order to ensure effective competition, as well as legal certainty for financial market participants, both of which are essential to the proper functioning of these markets in a rapidly evolving environment.

Strategic Responses of Platform Multinational Enterprises: Rethinking Competition Policy through a Comparative Institutional Perspective

Purpose – The impact of the regional innovation ecosystem on the digital innovation and sustainable international competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was analyzed. This study examined how the regional innovation-based ecosystem contributes to building sustainable international competitiveness through digital innovation. Design/Methodology – This study analyzed the survey data from 427 SMEs in Chungbuk Province using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The regional innovation ecosystem was conceptualized into three dimensions: knowledge creation, intermediary facilitation, and business ecosystems. The sub-elements of each dimension were treated as independent variables to determine their impact on digital innovation and sustainable international competitiveness. Findings – The capabilities of research entities, regional innovation platforms, research and development intermediary organizations, value creation collaborators, and support and coordination infrastructure had significant effects on digital innovation and sustainable international competitiveness. Digital innovation had partial mediating effects for most innovation ecosystem factors, while large-scale research facilities had only a direct effect. Originality/value – This study expands theoretical perspectives by structuring the regional innovation ecosystem in multiple dimensions and linking it with the digital innovation and sustainable international competitiveness of SMEs. It has strategic implications for enhancing SME competitiveness and regional industrial policy in the digital transformation era.

This paper develops and analyzes dynamic changes of competition policies of economies in today’s economic conditions. It is devoted to study the essence of competition in modern economy of countries, challenges arisen by digital economy, trade opportunities and competition measures.

The paper traces the ideological foundations and also the proposals for changes in competition protection inherent in the so-called New Brandeisian movement in the USA. It looks at the views of the historical inspirer, L. D. Brandeis, and in particular his current followers who have taken the highest positions in the American antitrust movement under the presidency of J. Biden. The return of President D. Trump has deprived New Brandeisians of direct influence on the conduct of competition policy and law, the paper nevertheless shows that, thanks to its deeper roots, social demand and also popularity among the emerging generation of competition lawyers in the US, the New Brandeis movement is an active part of the current stage of the evolution of views on market regulation, which gives it a chance to regain influence in the foreseeable future. The paper concludes by drawing attention to parallels between New Brandeisianism in the US and ordoliberalism in the EU, which also demonstrate the viability of this school of thought in competition regulation.