Gender and competition

29 November 2018 Paris

Français

2018 OECD GLOBAL FORUM ON COMPETITION EXPLORED THE RELATION BETWEEN GENDER AND COMPETITION

Competition policy usually thinks in terms of consumers and firms, government and regulators. Traditionally, consumers have been considered only by their willingness to pay, their (rational) preferences, their ability to substitute between products offered by firms. Meanwhile, firms are treated as entities that are defined by the profit-maximising objectives of their owners, and only rarely seen as collections of people. Competition policy is therefore largely gender blind and prides itself on its objectivity. However, in November 2018, the Global Forum on Competition held a discussion on the topic to explore whether a gender lens might in fact help deliver a more objective competition policy by identifying additional relevant features of the market, and of the behaviour of consumers and firms. We also discussed whether a competition perspective can help inform policymaking on gender equality.

This page contains materials related to this discussion.

Further to this session, the OECD project on Gender Inclusive Competition Policy, funded by the Canadian Government, was launched in 2020 to develop guidance for competition agencies in this area. As a result the OECD issued a Gender Inclusive Competition Toolkit to help competition authorities apply a gender lens to their everyday activities.

Access the Toolkit

Session information

SPEAKER

Estefania SANTACREU-VASUT Bio
Associate Professor in Economics, ESSEC Business School

DOCUMENTATION

» Background note by Estefania Santacreu-Vasut and Chris Pike

» Executive summary with key findings

Presentation

Estefania Santacreu-Vasut - Professor in Economics, ESSEC Business School