Abstract:
This paper aims to study the relationship between competition policy and economic growth. Competition policy is generally defined as a tool that contributes to the decentralization of economic decision-making, promotes small businesses, and prevents the abuse of economic power. In this paper, I will be using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), a measure of market concentration as a proxy for competition policy, and oil and non-oil exports (%GDP) as proxies for Economic Growth. My study will focus on the GCC countries (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, and UAE), where I will investigate this impact through a panel OLS and 2SLS regression, with the intensity of local competition used as an instrumental variable over a period of 13 years. This paper will consist of 5 sections, the first section will consist of the introduction, which will present an overview of competition policy and economic conditions for the GCC and present a literature review. The second section will focus on the conceptual framework for the GCC. The third section I will be discussing the Empirical strategies used in this paper. Section 4 will highlight the results and output. Finally, section 5, will conclude and present policy recommendations.
