Local Competition Bodies and Antimonopoly Policy Effectiveness in Transition Economies

There is some empirical evidence that the effectiveness of antimonopoly policy (hereinafter referred to as the “EAP”) depends on different aspects of policy design, like engaging in leniency policy and competition authority independence. However, these features of competition policy design do not explain how countries can effectively implement competition policy within their internal territories. How can local competition bodies influence the EAP? This has not been researched from a bottom-up perspective, although local policy implementers have expertise and knowledge of the true problems. Therefore, they are in a better position to propose purposeful policy.To investigate the question I chose two transitional countries, Russia and Kazakhstan. The results of the study suggest that the competition authorities can increase the effectiveness of antimonopoly policy through an active stance against significant cases of competition law violence and use of large fines