Competition in Markets and Competition for Markets

Abstract

This paper builds on a distinction that is sometimes made between competition in a market and competition for a market. Competition for a market refers to the struggle to create a new market, or to erect a new standard, and it is usually associated with the process of innovation that brings new displacing technologies to market. Competition in a market is the conventional view of competition, and concentrates on the actions of incumbents and imitative entrants in well-established markets. The paper reviews some of the issues that competition for markets raises for anti-trust policy makers, and then asks whether competition for a market is a perfect substitute for competition in a market.