… is from page 230 of Frank M. Machovec’s superb 1995 volume, Perfect Competition and the Transformation of Economics (original emphasis):
Finally, it should be noted that the regulatory apparatus of the state offers numerous ‘contrivances’ … to neutralize the threats of competitors. For example, large, established firms whose personnel budgets liberally fund, say, on-site employee child-care centres, will likely support women’s rights groups in their quest for new federal labour regulations that mandate such benefits for all firms. The adoption of such a rule would have no impact on the incumbents’ costs, yet it would boost potential rivals’ costs, thereby reducing (or eliminating) a potential advantage of new entrants who would prefer not to provide child care for their employees.


Finally, it should be noted that the regulatory apparatus of the state offers numerous ‘contrivances’ … to neutralize the threats of competitors. For example, large, established firms whose personnel budgets liberally fund, say, on-site employee child-care centres, will likely support women’s rights groups in their quest for new federal labour regulations that mandate such benefits for all firms. The adoption of such a rule would have no impact on the incumbents’ costs, yet it would boost potential rivals’ costs, thereby reducing (or eliminating) a potential advantage of new entrants who would prefer not to provide child care for their employees.
