On the Relationship between Antitrust and Strategy: Taking Steps and Thinking Ahead

Posted by D. Daniel Sokol

Guilherme Fowler Monteiro, Insper Institute of Education and Research provides thoughts On the Relationship between Antitrust and Strategy: Taking Steps and Thinking Ahead

ABSTRACT: The present article is divided into two parts. Initially, we undertake a review of the current debate between antitrust and strategy. It is specifically noted that much of the contemporary discussion on the subject is focused on the productivity-based approach proposed by Professor Porter. This approach, while shedding light on important antitrust issues, is to some degree not fully innovative, since both Porter and the traditional economic antitrust analysis seek inspiration in the same source (Industrial Organization). In the second part of the paper, we propose a new approach to antitrust based on the resource-based view of strategy (RBV). This new approach is particularly useful in examining the conditions of market rivalry, being a complement – not necessarily a substitute – to the traditional antitrust economic analysis. The application of the RBV to antitrust is appealing because it encourages a more micro-analytical view of the phenomenon of competition, favoring a more detailed study of the idiosyncrasies of firms.