Editorial: Emerging challenges in competition policy and regulation

Competition and regulation authorities contribute to social and economic welfare by monitoring the conduct of public and private organisations with the purpose of promoting fair competitive and operational conditions across the market economy. Competition and regulation authorities are currently operating in a geopolitical context that is increasingly protectionist, so that one of the challenges they face is how to deal with these tendencies in situations where the objective of promoting competition and trade conflicts with broader political objectives. The political interventions implemented in different countries worldwide can be seen as a reaction to the difficulties faced by domestic firms in markets dominated by powerful and technologically advanced foreign firms. More generally in the context of competition policy and regulation, while recent advances in technology provide great economic opportunities, policymakers’ objectives require them to maximise the economic and social benefits, and to regulate the potential negative effects, of these technological advancements.[...]