Final answer:
The Robinson-Patman Act was the legislation aimed at protecting small businesses from the competition of large chain stores by preventing discriminatory pricing practices that favored bulk-buying entities.
Step-by-step explanation:
The act that was passed to decrease the failure rate of small businesses by protecting them from the competition of large and growing chain stores was the Robinson-Patman Act. This legislation, enacted in 1936 as an amendment to the Clayton Antitrust Act, sought to prevent unfair competition and prohibited certain forms of price discrimination. It aimed to protect small businesses from the purchasing power advantage of large chain stores, which could negotiate lower prices due to buying in bulk, an ability that smaller entities did not possess.
The Sherman Antitrust Act was the first federal act that outlawed monopolistic business practices. The Clayton Act addressed specific practices that the Sherman Act did not cover, especially those that could lead to monopolies. Lastly, the Celler-Kefauver Antimerger Act further extended antitrust legislation to cover a wider range of mergers and acquisitions. Throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, agencies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Department of Justice have continued to enforce these antitrust laws to ensure fair competition in the market.