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Lasserre, Bruno --- "Efficiency in the Enforcement Policy of the French Conseil de la Concurrence" [2009] ELECD 206; in Drexl, Josef; Idot, Laurence; Monéger, Joël (eds), "Economic Theory and Competition Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009)

Book Title: Economic Theory and Competition Law

Editor(s): Drexl, Josef; Idot, Laurence; Monéger, Joël

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781847206312

Section: Chapter 17

Section Title: Efficiency in the Enforcement Policy of the French Conseil de la Concurrence

Author(s): Lasserre, Bruno

Number of pages: 12

Extract:

17. Efficiency in the enforcement
policy of the French Conseil de la
concurrence
Bruno Lasserre*

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Defining Efficiency

I would like to open with a couple of thoughts on the meaning of the word
`efficiency'. What does it mean to be efficient? Certainly, being `efficient' is
more than merely being `effective'. Being `effective', or `effectif' in French,
means being capable of producing effects. Being `efficient' goes further than
that. On the one hand, it means being capable of bringing about the desired
effects, of performing a predefined task. In that sense, `efficient' corresponds
to the French word `efficace'. Yet, on the other hand, it also relates to how
well one brings about these desired effects, to how well one performs that
task. In that sense, `efficient' corresponds to another French term: `efficient'.
This definition is reflected in economics. A basic economic view of
efficiency is that a certain allocation is more efficient when it increases the
net value of resources. Now, I will not delve into the subtleties of Pareto or
Kaldor-Hicks types of efficiency ­ it is not my place and I would not want
to offend serious economists. However, I would like to use the following
basic definition of efficiency: one's aptitude to perform one's task with the
least waste. And I would submit that this notion is the driving force of an
antitrust authority such as the French Conseil de la concurrence (hereafter:
`the Conseil').
The performance of an antitrust agency is ...