Competition Buzz: Why (not) talk about the sociology of competition?

By: Guilherme Teno Castilho Misale & Yan Villela Vieira – NECSO

Antitrust law may (still) sound like an “extraneous body” to part of Brazilian society. This understanding is partially grounded on Brazil’s background of closed economy, under strong state intervention and controlling prices, for instance.

Nonetheless, by virtue of constant stimulus of educational actions forged by the authorities of the Brazilian Competition Defense System (SBDC), supported by active role performed by private entities and associations (e.g. IBRAC, CECORE, CEDES) and academic research groups (such as the ones from USP, UnB, FGV, PUC, Mackenzie etc.), the current scenario is far more promising than one could notice in the past, and this gradually contributes for mitigating the general sense of a weak competitive culture in Brazil.

Roughly speaking, the Brazilian society seems to be more cognizant of the harmful effects caused by non-compliance with competition law, notably in light of rigid enforcement and also due to an enhanced role of public and private advocacy. In that regard, a virtuous mainframe that encompasses the legacy of Law 8,884/1994 (Revoked Antitrust Law) along with the improvements introduced by Law 12,529/2011, whose 5th anniversary was recently celebrated, have been key for generating a fertile institutional landscape to foster a genuine culture of competition in the country.

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