The Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has released guidance intended to help agencies design, develop and analyze regulations that foster competition in the marketplace.
Developed in partnership with the Council of Economic Advisers, National Economic Council and other members of the White House Competition Council, the guidance includes an outline of key considerations for agencies and other background information for analysts, OIRA Administrator Richard Revesz wrote in a blog post published Wednesday.
“Considering competition in regulatory design is critical not only to improving the competition effects of regulations that primarily address other important issues, but also to directly enhancing competition through regulatory action,” said Revesz.
The first section of the document provides a list of questions that agencies could use to determine how a regulation may affect competition and market structure and presents some recommendations for designing regulations that could enable agencies to achieve other policy goals while promoting competition.
The second part seeks to provide analysts with more technical background on factors that influence market power, additional methods for analyzing competition effects and more information on labor market competition and implications for regulation.
Revesz noted that his office’s work on competition backs the current administration’s priorities, including efforts to address pricing practices such as junk fees and initiatives to limit the ability of companies to restrict employees from pursuing better-paying jobs.