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Consumer Commission (consumer + commission)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Law and Criminology	50%
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	50%

Selected Abstracts

The effect of the PricewaterhouseCoopers merger on auditor concentration in Australia: A note

ACCOUNTING & FINANCE, Issue 2 2002
Sumithira Thavapalan
Concerns have been raised about the impact of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) merger on the structure of and competition in the audit and assurance services market in Australia. The market share of publicly listed companies for audit firms for each industry category pre, and post,merger is examined in this paper to ascertain levels of auditor concentration. Using the approach outlined by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission a decrease in the level of competition is identified. However, when using another generally accepted concentration measure, the Herfindahl Index, the merger is found to not necessarily decrease competition. In fact, for a number of industry sectors a more equitable spread of clients between the main audit firms was achieved. [source]

Does the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Engage in "Trial by Media"?,

LAW & POLICY, Issue 4 2005
KAREN YEUNG
In recent years, heated debate has arisen concerning the media practices of Australia's competition and consumer regulator ("the ACCC"), with a number of industry leaders asserting that the ACCC engages in "trial by media." The public disquiet surrounding the ACCC's use of the media was so significant that the Australian Parliament established an independent committee of inquiry ("the Dawson Inquiry") to investigate (amongst other things) whether Australian competition legislation "provides adequate protection for the commercial affairs and reputation of individuals and corporations." In its report, the Dawson Inquiry observed that widespread misgivings about the ACCC's media practices had emerged from the submissions that it had received. In its recommendations to the Australian Parliament, the Dawson Inquiry recommended that the ACCC should develop a media code of conduct to govern its use of the media, particularly in relation to enforcement proceedings. In making these recommendations, the Dawson Inquiry drew from a hitherto unpublished research study conducted in 2002 that sought to identify the extent to which the ACCC engages in "trial by media." This article documents the design, methodological bases, and findings of that study in order to facilitate broader dissemination of the research findings upon which the Dawson Inquiry's policy recommendations concerning the ACCC's use of the media were based. [source]

Should the Pre-Notification of Mergers Be Compulsory in Australia?

THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 4 2004
Chander Shekhar
Australia is unusual among the world's antitrust jurisdictions in not making the pre-notification of mergers compulsory. However, if the parties are concerned that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is likely to object to the merger, there are strong incentives for them to notify the ACCC as the regulator has developed a strong reputation for imposing heavy costs on parties that fail to notify such mergers. The result is a system of quasi-compulsory notification that creates the strongest incentives for parties to notify the ACCC of those proposals to which it is most likely to object. This study analyses data extracted from the ACCC's merger database and the empirical results are consistent with this characterisation. Mergers reported voluntarily by the parties are found to experience longer delays to completion, and are more likely to be challenged by the ACCC, when compared with a sample of all other mergers assessed by the regulator. The results suggest that non-compulsory notification allows the parties themselves to pre-sort the proposed merger vis-à-vis its interest to the ACCC. [source]

Restorative Justice in Business Regulation?

THE MODERN LAW REVIEW, Issue 2 2004
Consumer Commission's Use of Enforceable Undertakings, The Australian Competition
Enforceable undertakings are now used extensively by both the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and other Australian regulators to formalise decisions to forego enforcement litigation on the basis that offenders will correct their misconduct and comply in the future. A ,fairness' critique warns that regulators might exert undue pressure in negotiating enforceable undertakings and that the terms agreed might be inappropriately broad and not legally authorised. A ,bias' critique argues that enforceable undertakings favour business above the public interest in taking tough court action against business offences. The article draws on empirical research into the ACCC's use of enforceable undertakings to show how they are used in practice, and argues that, if appropriately implemented, enforceable undertakings can be a valuable ,restorative justice' alternative to traditional regulatory enforcement action, simultaneously addressing both fairness and bias concerns. [source]