Overseeing Natural Monopolies: A Comparative Assessment of the Approach on Competition in the Electricity Sector
The Second Academic Gift Book of ELIG Gürkaynak Attorneys-at-Law on Selected Contemporary Competition Law Matters 339-372 (2019), ISBN: 978-605-315-352-8
44 Pages Posted: 14 Jun 2019
Date Written: March 2019
Abstract
The conception of “economies of scale” in the conventional production era led to the proliferation of natural monopolies, as if demand for certain needs and products could only be sufficiently met by colossal entities. The most efficient method for achieving higher production capacities, lower prices, and thus, enhancing public welfare appeared to be eliminating competition in these markets by designating a single economic unit—whether state-owned, private, or a public-private partnership—as the sole supplier.
This article attempts to examine and illuminate the competition law regime’s handling of natural monopolies in general, particularly electricity sector. In this regard, this article will (i) examine the legal and economic context of natural monopolies in general and (ii) compare the liberation policies of the electricity sector within the European Union and the United States with the Turkish Competition Authority’s approach to the sector’s liberation process. As a result, the article will analyse the on-going competitive issues within the electricity sector in Turkey and provide resolutions on how the liberation and competition within the sector can be enhanced.
Keywords: natural monopolies, competition law, deregulation, Liberalization
JEL Classification: K21, L40, L52
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation