Consumer market regulation in small states: A case study of the logical and institutional interface between consumer protection and competition laws in Jamaica

This dissertation was motivated by an interest in small state market regulation nurtured through enforcement experience which led to an appreciation of the necessity of crafting policy and enforcement solutions to meet the specific needs of small developing states. The analytical framework for the research was based on a law and development perspective on regulation. The dissertation examined small state consumer market regulation through a case study investigation of the logical and institutional interface between the consumer protection and competition laws enforced by the Jamaica Fair Trading Commission.;The study found that the trajectory of law reform and consumer market regulation in small states is significantly influenced by external pressures from international and bilateral donor institutions as well as epistemic communities which contributes to the use of transplanted rather than tailored legal reforms. It identified the primary internal dynamic influencing the effectiveness of small state regulation as the overall lack of regulatory capacity evidenced in underfunded agencies and a limited pool of skilled regulatory staff. However the major finding of the case study was that regulatory capacity is not necessarily strengthened by the creation of a multi-function agency and that functional integration of consumer protection and competition law can dilute the focus and effectiveness of a small state agency.;The research sought to explore the impact of small state characteristics on the theory and practice of integrated enforcement of consumer protection and competition laws. The shared economic, social and political characteristics of small states influence their regulatory environment. These characteristics include colonial legacies, pervasiveness of government, small population size, close-knit social relationships, lack of economic scale, high market concentration levels, open economies, dependence on external markets, vulnerability to external factors and financial and human resource constraints on institutional capacity. Although size has implications for the design of the substantive legal rules this is not always reflected in the literature on the complementarities of consumer protection and competition laws. Whilst the complementarities have been premised on the common goal of consumer welfare conceptualised as consumer choice, it is argued in the dissertation that the normative foundations of small state regulation must go beyond this and promote equitable consumer interests within a development-oriented framework.