The Welfare Goal of Antitrust Laws in Asia: for whom should the law toil?

It is argued that an antitrust law should include a clear, long‐term, economy‐wide welfare goal. For any country—especially for developing countries—legislating to promote the competitive process, it is essential to include in the law a clearly‐specified objects clause to guide administrative and judicial conduct. Without a clear objects clause, firms, competition agencies, and the courts will not have any guidance as to the government's overarching goal when it passed the legislation. This uncertainty will lead to inefficient regulation; will run the risk of special interests being accommodated; and will lead to the likelihood of false positives and negatives being made by regulators and the courts. We review the antitrust laws in some Asian economies and find that most of them have not incorporated a clear objects clause in their statutes.