The purpose of this paper is to identify empirically the implicit structural model, especially the roles of size asymmetries and concentration, used by the European Commission to identify mergers with coordinated effects (i.e. collective dominance). Apart from its obvious policy-relevance, the...

This paper investigates empirically whether owner motivations are consistent with neoclassical models of profit maximisation. Contrary to the neoclassical model, in some markets owners gain private benefits from supplying products with certain characteristics. To consider this issue, a full...

To prevent possible abuse of market power in the future an antitrust agency can force merging firms to divest some of their assets. The divested assets can be sold via auction either to existing competitors or to a new entrant. Divesture of assets extends the range of parameters when a merger...

Behavioural and industrial economists have argued that, because of cognitive limitations, consumers are liable to make sub-optimal choices in complex decision problems. Firms can exploit these limitations by introducing spurious complexity into tariff structures, weakening price competition....

The modernisation of EC antitrust rules timed to coincide with the 2004 enlargement of the European Union is widely recognised as an historic and revolutionary reform. According to the dominant view that has emerged in both law and political science, the change is to be explained in terms of the...

Although the 1996 quot;Notice on the Non-imposition or Reduction of Fines in Cartel Casesquot; has been criticised by academics as lacking clarity and certainty, it has been described in European Commission literature as an quot;indisputable successquot; and as having played an quot;instrumental...

Turkish electricity reform is entering a new phase through the Turkish Government's proposal to create 21 new distribution companies, 18 of them through merger. Two aspects of merger analysis are the operational cost savings and the potential production efficiency gains. This paper concentrates...

This paper analyses the raison d'ecirc;tre of the current initiative for the federal policy change in the US regarding the issues of passing-on defense and indirect purchaser standing in order to draw policy lessons for the EC in the light of the Commission's Green Paper on private enforcement of...

This study examines the frequency and form of deposit account interest rate change. Specifically, the question of whether deposit interest rate change is synchronised with other banks or staggered at periodic intervals is addressed. Overall, evidence consistent with individual banks changing...

This study provides an empirical assessment of the efficiency and interest rate changes occurring during 61 UK retail bank mergers. Key findings of the work include the general efficiency enhancing influence of UK bank mergers and the limited effect of merger on retail interest rates....