We analyze the optimal policy of an antitrust authority towards horizontal mergers when merger proposals are endogenous and firms choose which of several mutually exclusive mergers to propose. The optimal policy of an antitrust authority that seeks to maximize expected consumer surplus involves...

We analyze the optimal dynamic policy of an antitrust authority towards horizontal mergers when merger proposals are endogenous and occur over time. Approving a currently proposed merger will affect the profitability and welfare effects of potential future mergers, the characteristics of which...

In this chapter our attention turns to horizontal merger policy. The Sherman Act`s prohibition on "contracts, combinations, and conspiracies in restraint of trade," whose application to price fixing we discussed in Chapter 2, also applies to horizontal mergers, but with an important difference:...