Study on the passing-on of overcharges : final report

This Study is intended to provide judges, and other practitioners who are not economic experts, with practical guidance on obtaining and assessing economic evidence in relation to pass-on claims arising from competition law infringements. Drawing on relevant economic theory and quantitative methods, as well as relevant legal practice and rules, it sets out a framework for evaluating the plausibility of pass-on claims, for quantifying the effects of pass-on, and, accordingly, for assessing the extent of the harm suffered by a claimant. The Study reviews the principal factors that are predicted to affect the extent of the passing-on effect and the associated volume effect. It also presents a number of different empirical approaches to quantifying the contributions of these effects to the harm suffered, identifying the key parameters that need to be estimated and the corresponding data requirements. The Study offers too some practical guidance on managing the legal process of adducing and assessing relevant economic evidence. Finally, it proposes a checklist of issues organised around a set of 39 questions, which is designed to provide judges and practitioners with a practical tool to assist in the assessment of economic evidence in relation to pass-on.