Recent Developments at the CMA: 2020–2021

We discuss three important projects that economists at the Competition and Markets Authority have completed over the past year. First, our work on the Funerals Market Investigation provides an illustration of how demand-side problems can lead to a lack of competition, as well as demonstrating the CMA’s willingness to consider price control and regulatory remedies where necessary. Second, on the Sabre/Farelogix merger case, we point to how our assessment dealt with uncertainty in innovative markets, the importance of preventing incumbents from acquiring start-ups, and the risks of following formalistic market definitions, especially in multi-sided platform sectors. Third, we set out the most notable developments in our revised Mergers Assessment Guidelines—including the assessment of future competition even when subject to significant uncertainty—and the assessment of the loss of dynamic competition and its effect on innovation incentives.