AGCM

The relavant market is worth around 1 billion and concerns 7 million students and their families and 1 million teachers. A public consultation open to all stakeholders was also launched

The Italian Competition Authority launched a sector inquiry on the school educational publishing markets in Italy, which also includes publications and aids for students and teachers in primary and secondary schools.

Educational publishing in Italy is considerable in several aspects. In fact, in addition to the objective economic significance of the activities involved, amounting to around €1 billion per year, there is a well-known 'seasonal' impact of book procurement for consumers, i.e. around 7 million students and their families, and the professional involvement of almost one million teachers. The particular cultural value of books as goods has also led to the adoption of special regulations, which has a great impact on the sector.

The inquiry launched by the Authority intends to investigate the competitive dynamics of the markets concerned and a number of critical issues that are recurrently subject of public consideration, such as price trends, frequent changes in editions, difficulties in supply and distribution methods, possible rigidities in school adoption methods, also considering the technological innovations in the sector, especially regarding the combination of paper-digital formats and the circulation of property rights of digital editions.

Together with the inquiry, the Authority launched a public consultation (call for inputs) on the topics specified in detail in the measure initiating the inquiry itself: all interested parties may send - within 30 days - relevant contributions to the e-mail address [email protected].

Rome, 11 September 2024