Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law

Competition: Spring 2021, Vol 31, No. 1

THE CORRELATION BETWEEN ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT AND GENDER EQUALITY

By Amy T. Brantly1 and Jennifer M. Oliver2

I. "BIGNESS" AND INCLUSION: DOES ONE AFFECT THE OTHER?

America’s monopolies, duopolies and oligopolies, and its citizens’ increasing reliance on their services, are drawing scrutiny at levels unseen for more than a century. Like industrial concentration, gender inequality, and especially economic inequality, is similarly a well-known cause of increasing concern in this country.

Parallels can be drawn between gender inequality and behavior from America’s dominant firms. Gender and competition policy are inextricably intertwined; persistent unjust discrimination in a concentrated market may be a by-product of market power. Dominant firms exclude new entrants from a market, whereas gender inequity and biases exclude women from full participation in the economy and workplace. Gender inequity and biases can deprive firms of the benefits of women’s diverse experiences and viewpoints, just as monopolies and their ilk can deprive consumers of the benefits of innovative new competitors.

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