Government intervention

Question 1

Define competition policy

Answer 1

a set of measures designed to promote competition in markets and protect consumers in order to enhance the efficiency of markets

Question 2

Define Merger

Answer 2

where firms join together to form a single firm, potentially reducing competition In a market by increasing concentration

Question 3

Define relevant market

Answer 3

a market to be investigated under competition law, defined in such a way that no major substitutes are omitted but no non-substitutes are included

Question 4

Define nationalisation

Answer 4

where a privately owned firm or industry is taken into public ownership

Question 5

Define Privatisation

Answer 5

where an enterprise in public ownership is returned to private ownership

Question 6

Define regulatory capture

Answer 6

a situation in which the regulator of an industry comes to represent the industry’s interests rather than regulating it

Question 7

Define Contracting out

Answer 7

a situation in which the public sector places activities in the hands of a private firm and pays for the provision

Question 8

Define Competitive tendering

Answer 8

a process by which the public sector calls for private firms to bid for a contract for provisions of a good or service

Question 9

Define Public-Private partnership (PPP)

Answer 9

an arrangement by which a government service or private business venture is funded and operated through a partnership of government and the private sector

Question 10

Define Private Finance Initiative (PFI Later PF2)

Answer 10

a funding arrangement under which the private sector designs, builds, finances and operates an asset and associated services for the public sector in return for an annual payment linked to its performance in delivering the service.