Abuse of Dominance Enforcement under Latin American Competition Laws

The spread of competition laws in Latin America has been accompanied, as in Central and Eastern Europe, by warnings against over-enforcement, and in particular against enforcement of provisions against the "abuse of a dominant position" in a market that may discourage legitimate, pro-competitive actions and strategies. We examine all instances of competition agency findings of abuse of dominance for eight Latin American countries over the period 2001-2003. We find a) that there have been relatively few such rulings in most countries, b) that roughly half of such rulings have been in traditionally "regulated industries", which suggests that the number of rulings may fall as sectoral regulatory agencies gain more capability and experience, c) that many rulings have arguably targeted government-imposed restrictions on competition as well as privately imposed restrictions, and d) that a majority of rulings have attacked exclusionary rather than exploitative abuses.