In den letzten Jahrzehnten hat der Lebensmitteleinzelhandel in ganz Europa einen erheblichen Restrukturierungsprozess durchlaufen. Während der Wettbewerbsdruck durch die Billigdiscounter gestiegen ist, nahm gleichzeitig in weiten Teilen Europas die Marktkonzentration durch Fusionen und...

In diesem Bericht wird ein umfangreicher Datensatz von über sechs Millionen Haushaltsstromtarifen für alle Postleitzahlgebiete Deutschlands analysiert. Die Entwicklung der Einzelhandelsstrompreise zwischen Januar 2007 und August 2014 unterscheidet sich je nach Anbieter und Tarif stark....

We study a merger between two Dutch supermarket chains to assess its effect on the depth as well as composition of assortment. We adopt a difference-in-differences strategy that exploits local variation in pre-merger competitive conditions and thus in the merger outcomes. To define our control...

In Deutschland wurde der Ausbau der digitalen Infrastruktur in den vergangenen Jahren mit öffentlichen Geldern in beträchlichem Umfang gefördert, um die 'digitale Lücke' zwischen Ballungsgebieten und ländlichen Räumen zu schließen. Da weitere Förderungen in Milliardenhöhe bevorstehen,...

We analyze the pass-through of cost changes to retail tariffs in the German electricity market over the 2007 to 2014 period. We find an average pass-through rate of around 60%, which significantly varies with demand factors: while the pass-through rate to baseline tariffs, where firms have...

Assortment decisions are key strategic instruments for firms responding to local market conditions. We assess this claim by studying the effect of a national merger between two large Dutch supermarket chains on prices and on the depth as well as composition of assortment. We adopt a...

Assortment decisions are key strategic instruments for firms responding to local market conditions. We assess this claim by studying the effect of a national merger between two large Dutch supermarket chains on prices and on the depth as well as composition of assortment. We adopt a...

Unlike most retrospective merger studies that only focus on price effects, we also estimate the impact of a merger on product variety. We use an original dataset on Dutch supermarkets to assess the effect of a merger that was conditionally approved by the Dutch Competition Authority (ACM) on...

This paper empirically investigates the effectiveness of competition policy by estimating its impact on Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth for 22 industries in 12 OECD countries over the period 1995-2005. We find a robust positive and significant effect of competition policy as measured by...

The aim of this paper is to test the determinants of Research Joint Ventures' (RJVs) group dynamics. We look at entry, exit and turbulence in RJVs that have been set up under the US National Cooperative Research Act, which allows for certain antitrust exemptions in order to stimulate firms to...