PROHIBITION OF COMPETITION

Prohibition of Competition Restricting Agreements between Undertakings in EU and in Albania

Prohibition of Competition Restricting Agreements between Undertakings in EU and in Albania

Introduction

In competition, there are some practices that eventually occur in the development of business and looking for participants particularly benefit from them. Such practices lead to harmful effects on the market, hindering the emergence of other competitors who normally would drive the improvement of the quality of products on the market (Ching, Choi & Huang, 2011). It is precisely these behaviors that are known as business practices that restrict competition, among which are: Agreements between producers to fix prices, allocate markets or restrict output, an act known as formation of cartels.

Between Sellers: Pricing, to set the prices at which sold, distribution of customers for allocating customers among themselves, territorial distribution in order to divide the geographical areas between the participants, handling of supply between bidders not to compete with each other in a bidding process, may take the form of one of the three previous agreements and restriction of production in order to limit the amount of production of a particular product (Elvestad & Nilssen, 2010).

Among buyers: Pricing, in order to set the price at which they will buy, distributions to divide, for example, customers or territories (Hirschl & Shachar, 2009). Handling of offers and non-compete each other in a determined bid process. Imposition of retail prices by a producer or wholesaler to the retailer end. This practice is applied by companies that have dominant position in the market, and can restrict access to the product end of the dispenser if he refuses to sell at a predetermined price, thereby directly affecting the rights of consumers.

Merger, that yields results in the formation of a single firm that has too high a percentage of the market, so as to confer monopoly power. The opening and incipient development of a new niche market in a country, can cause a firm holds a dominant position for a while (Bown, 2007). This special circumstance makes this monopoly position is not restrictive enough, but to achieve a dominant position in a market through the integration of companies is not permitted, as this practice does not allow proper development of the market through the competition.

Predatory pricing below production costs, out of the market for competitors who have less financial muscle. This is a strategy that can be practiced by a dominant firm and that is to force prices below production costs of the product, to ensure that competitors are excluded from the market. The purpose of this lab is to get or maintain a monopoly position and, thus, play with the quality and prices according to their own convenience (Wang, 2008). Of selling the same product under the same conditions at different prices, but not always a price difference necessarily mean that discrimination exists. The most common example is the volume discount, but other factors affecting discounts, such as the inclusion of the costs of shipping, warranty and market conditions, among ...