Abstract

The enforcement priorities set by competition authorities carry significant socio-economic consequences: their decisions affect market structures, determine what constitutes legitimate business conduct, and influence how economic power and welfare are distributed. Yet, in most jurisdictions, priority-setting remains a largely reactive, insulated process, guided by a narrowly defined consumer-welfare standard and disconnected from wider social, economic, and democratic concerns. Consequently, the benefits of enforcement, such as correcting market failures or enhancing consumer savings, are often unevenly distributed among members of society, and without specific accountability to the broader public.

By relying on insights from the theory of responsive regulation, social accountability of independent regulatory authorities, and deliberative and participatory governance models, the article investigates how priority-setting can be theoretically rethought and practically restructured to be more responsive, strategic, and socially accountable to broader concerns. Our proposed approach remains within the scope of competition authorities’ administrative discretion and does not entail changes to the current substantive, procedural, or institutional frameworks.

The full paper will be available to read soon.

This is the eigth edition of the AdC Competition Policy Award, which aims to promote academic research that is ‘relevant to the application of competition law and economics at the national level’. The 2025 edition of the prize invited submissions in the area of competition law and was awarded by an international jury chaired by the President of the Portuguese Competition Authority. More information about the prizes can be found here.