Abstract:
The South African Competition Commission’s merger decisions for fiscal year (FY) 2002 through
FY2009 are analysed to empirically identify the factors historically influencing prohibition,
conditional approval and unconditional approval, as well as the factors historically influencing
whether merger applications are deemed non-complex, complex or very complex. The focus of the
analysis is on whether or not the historical process has remained consistent through time, and
whether or not that process can be obviously linked to the provisions of the 1998 Competition
Act. Initial results point to behaviour that is not consistent over the time period considered;
however, those inconsistencies are removed, once additional measures of market contestibility,
associated with the 1998 Competition Act are included in the analysis. The final results suggest
that the commission is less likely to approve mergers that they link to markets that are less
contestable. In addition to protecting competition, the commission is simultaneously protecting
other public interests. Therefore, our research supports the hypothesis that the commission
consistently applies its legislative remit.
