Libertad para competir en el mercado: recursos, procesos y resultados

We analyze three concepts of market competition. Although in each one of them one can appreciate the different aspects of freedom, they also contribute specially to some of them. We propose that the “neoclassical general equilibrium” mainly contributes to the discussion of the outcomes of an economic activity, the “barriers to entry” approach calls for a study of the resources necessary to compete and the “competition as a process” approach emphasizes the competitive activity itself. Moreover, as we move from the first onwards, enriching the meaning of competition, the possibility of losing opportunities to participate in the market becomes more evident. Entry and exit are part of the competitive process. Each concept of competition responds to theories that specify or allude to certain types and distribution of freedoms of maneuver of economic agents. Throughout this study we often quote Amartya Sen with the purpose of building bridges between the study of competition and the approach of “development as freedom”.