This paper argues that the market rules governing the operation of the England and Wales electricity market in combination with the structure of this market presents the two major generators National Power and PowerGen with opportunities to earn revenues substantially in excess of their costs of...

In this paper, we provide an assessment of the evolution of markups in Italy in the last twenty years. To this aim, we resort to both macro and micro data and estimation techniques, namely reduced forms accounting measures (price-cost margins) and production function model-based indicators. When...

We study, theoretically and in a quantitative model, the determinants of lender profits in the cross-section of households. We argue that the empirical pattern of high profit margins for high risk contracts calls for a departure from constant markups or ex-post perfect competition models.We...

We examine the association between market structure and cost structure using a national sample of U.S. hospitals. Cost structure determines operating risk; therefore, it is important to understand factors that influence managerial choices on cost structure. Market structure is a potentially...

Healthcare in the United States is the most expensive in the world, with real per capita spending growth averaging 4 percent since 1980. This paper examines the role of market power of U.S. healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies. It finds that markups (the ability to charge prices...

We examine trends in bank competition since the early 2000s. The Lerner index—arguably the most commonly used measure—shows evidence of a marked increase in market power in advanced economies, especially after the global financial crisis. But other frequently used indicators of banking...

An increase in the number of local jurisdictions providing industrial public goods may lead to a rise in the equilibrium tax rate, in contrast to the case of residential public goods. When local jurisdictions are Leviathans, an increase in competition may expand tax revenues and thus fail to...

This chapter analyzes Big Data and Big Data abuses of market power. The chapter provides an overview of developments under both EU and US case law relevant to such abuses as well as some of the economic underpinnings of such an analysis. While there are not many cases specific to this interface,...

Recent evidence suggests that anti-competitive behavior of firms negatively affects workers' real wages. Typically, policy actions relate to antitrust regulation and rarely to measures that curb employers' monopsony power. We show that policymakers who want to raise workers' real wages should...