Final Report of the Study Group on Innovation and Competition Policy

    It is essential to achieve innovation that leads to the creation of new services and new markets for Japan’s sustained economic growth. In addition, it has been highlighted that with the advancement of the digital economy and the shift to platform- and ecosystem-based businesses, the dynamism of competition may decrease due to the monopolization and oligopolization of markets as well as the further entrenchment of such oligopoly and monopoly. Under such an economic circumstance, ensuring a competitive environment that can promote innovation is an important and contemporary policy issue in competition policy.
    The impact of corporate conduct on innovation is complex and dynamic, and it is important to properly assess the long-term effects of possible future innovation on the competitive environment.
    In recognition of this, The Japan Fair Trade Commission (hereinafter referred to as the “JFTC”) launched the Study Group on Innovation and Competition Policy (Chair: OKADA Yosuke, Professor, Faculty of Social Innovation, Seijo University) in March 2023, hosted by the Director General of the Economic Affairs Bureau of the JFTC, to gain a deeper understanding and knowledge of these actual situations. The Study Group published its interim report on June 30 of the same year, theoretically and systematically organizing the mechanisms by which corporate conduct affects innovation, based on the expertise in economics and relevant disciplines.
    In the interim report, it was pointed out that it was necessary to further organize and examine the basic perspectives and points of focus, including legal treatment, in relation to legal and practical aspects such as the current system of the Antimonopoly Act and its operational interpretation. The Study Group has complied its final report based on the discussions thus far and published it herein.
   As of today, the request for comments on the interim report published on June 30, 2023 has been closed.