Rules possess an important influence on rational individual behaviour. In economic analyses, two different types of rules occur that both induce rule-following behaviour, however, they are rarely distinguished. The differentiation of interpersonal rules (institutions as collective rules) and...

Wettbewerbspolitik wird innerhalb der Europäischen Union in erster Linie auf zwei vertikal miteinander verbundenen Ebenen betrieben, nämlich der supranationalen Ebene der EU-Institutionen und Organisationen und der nationalen Ebene der mitgliedstaatlichen Institutionen und Organisationen : Auf...

The process of globalization causes an increasing intensity of institutional competition, i.e. competition among national suppliers of institutional arrangements for mobile factors. This often leads to the conclusion that the competence of national economic policy actors is decreasing. As a...

The question of a double dividend from revenue-neutral ecological tax reforms (an ecological advantage plus an economic advantage) has recently become a widely discussed topic both in real-world economic policy and in economic theory. The subject has produced many advocates and opponents in the...

Advances in competition economics as well as in computational and empirical methods have offered the scope for the employment of merger simulation models in merger control procedures during the past almost 15 years. Merger simulation is, nevertheless, still a very young and innovative instrument...

Advanced economic instruments like simulation models are enjoying an increased popularity in practical antitrust. There is hope that they – being quantitative predictive economic evidence – can substitute for qualitative structural analysis and lead to unambiguous results. This paper...

Standard welfare analysis of horizontal mergers usually refers to two effects: the anticompetitive market power effect reduces welfare by enabling firms to charge prices above marginal costs, whereas the procompetitive efficiency effect increases welfare by reducing the costs of production...

The recent Impala Judgment by the CFI on the Sony/BMG Decision by the Commission represents the most important ruling on collective dominance since Airtours. We review both the Decision and the Judgment and derive implications for the institutional and substantive development of EU Merger...

Die europäische Wettbewerbspolitik durchläuft in den letzten fünf Jahren einen grundlegenden Reformprozess, der mit der Neufassung von Kartellverordnung und Fusionskontrollverordnung begann (2002-2004), sich mit der Verfassung von Leitlinien für horizontale (2004) und nicht-horizontale...