In this comprehensive review of ex-post merger studies price effects of horizontal transactions are evaluated. By combining and further analyzing the results of 52 retrospective studies on 82 mergers or merger-like transactions it can be shown that the industry alone is no strong indication for...

Worldwide, the overwhelming majority of large horizontal mergers are cleared by antitrust authorities unconditionally. The presumption seems to be that efficiencies from these mergers are sizeable. We calculate the compensating efficiencies that would prevent a merger from harming consumers for...

Current EU law states that the competition authorities, in dealing with a merger proposal, cannot commit to specific remedies when rejecting proposals and essentially have to resort to accept or reject remedies proposed to it. We show that giving the authorities the power to propose, and commit...

This paper focuses on industries that require intensive investment to compete and innovate well before demand materialises (or fails to do so). In these industries, the existence of exit barriers may cause firms to become “zombies” ex post and result in significant underinvestment ex ante....

U.S. antitrust law empowers enforcers to review pending mergers that might undermine competition. But there is growing evidence that the merger-review regime is failing to perform its core procompetitive function. Industry concentration and the power of dominant firms are increasing across key...

Monopolization, in the United States, and abuse of dominance, in the European Union, embody different philosophies about how best to police single firm conduct in competition law. Surprisingly, their disagreement ends at market definition. Both doctrines define relevant markets by similar...

This research modifies the well-known three-stage merger simulation procedure of Nevo (2000) by replacing demand analysis in the first stage with survey-generated diversion ratios and own-price elasticities. We also provide a post-merger price formula under the scenario of two firms competing in...

In a competitive market, firms and consumers make decisions based on several aspects of the product involved. While price is a fundamental aspect, it is not the only one: in many markets, innovation, quality, variety or even privacy may play at least some role in the competition between...

The American Antitrust Institute (AAI) has released the White Paper, Update on Digital Technology: The Failure of Merger Enforcement and Need for Reform. The new White Paper updates and expands on analysis AAI originally released in July 2019.The widely cited 2019 AAI White Paper, The Record of...