1998 Reports

Antitrust policy and Japan's international steel trade

Tilton, Mark

How much has competition among Japanese firms changed? Have the tougher penalties provided under the Antimonopoly Law in 1992 pushed Japanese firms to compete more? A basic assumption behind our understanding of market systems is that firms compete over price to attract customers, spurring them to lower productions costs, improve productivity, and provide greater benefits to society. Assumptions about price competition also underlie international trade agreements. Parties to such agreements presume that if governments lower their barriers to trade, that the intrinsic competitiveness of markets will mean that price-competitive foreign firms will be able to sell their goods.