Implementation biases of the antitrust system in Korea: causes and consequences

Abstract

In this paper, we identify three systematic performance biases in the Korean antitrust system: the absence of structural enforcement, the minimal role of antitrust agencies in anticompetitive major industrial policy-making, and the biased conception of the problems of economic concentration. After examining five competing hypothesis based on current implementation literature, we attribute the performance biases mainly to the limited bureaucratic expertise and skills required for complex structural enforcement and to the biased perceptions and expectations, inherent in the policy environment, about the roles of the antitrust system. Further, we connect the two factors above, found in the post-decision period, with some conspicuous features of the preceding enactment process of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act.