Der vorliegende Beitrag beleuchtet mögliche Wohlfahrtswirkungen eines Einsatzes von Algorithmen. Oftmals können diese Produkte verbessern und die Effizienz von Prozessen erhöhen können in einigen Bereichen wie der Medizin, der Landwirtschaft, der Logistik, etc. erhebliche gesellschaftliche...

To encourage private actions for damages in antitrust cases some jurisdictions subtract a fraction of the redress from the fine. We analyze the effectiveness of this policy. Such a rebate does not encourage settlement negotiations that would otherwise not occur. If, however, the parties settle...

Die Plattformökonomie entwickelt sich rasant und intensiviert den Wettbewerb. Dieser an sich positiven Entwicklung steht ein hohes Risiko der Marktabschottung durch marktbeherrschende Plattformen gegenüber. Einige Plattformunternehmen dominieren die Weltmärkte und verfügen über eine...

Hardcore cartels that make agreements on quantities, prices, or areas, risk receiving both administrative fines from the cartel authority and civil law claims for damages. In addition to these risks, there is a recurring legal policy discussion that cartelist should also face criminal law...

The literature on cartel stability sidelines antitrust policy, whereas the literature on antitrust policy tends to neglect issues of cartel stability. This paper attempts to connect these two interrelated aspects in the context of an augmented quantity leadership model. The cartel is the...

The advance of digital technology is changing the nature of markets, enhancing the capacity of corporations to extract more consumers' surplus and lower the wages paid to workers. The rise of new technology has also diminished the efficacy of traditional laws to regulate firms and corporations....

Cartels can severely harm social welfare. Competition authorities introduced leniency rules to destabilize existing cartels and hinder the formation of new ones. Empirically, it is difficult to judge the success of these measures because functioning cartels are unobservable. Existing...

Data becomes a more and more important factor in the economy. To fully develop the economic potential of the data economy, antitrust regulation has to prevent the abuse of market power while sustaining the benefits of cooperation. This paper presents the pillars of European antitrust regulation...

Nowadays, merger control predominantly relies upon a strict analysis of the effects from merger and acquisitions on effective competition. However, there is scope for so-called public interest considerations in several European merger control regimes and recently a number of European politicians...

Collaborative standardisation and SEP Licensing: a EU policy perspective / G. Bruzzone & S. Capozzi -- Economic considerations on mergers, IPR licensing and litigation : A EU perspective / C. Caffarra & P. Régibeau -- Alternative dispute resolution in FRAND licensing : economic considerations...

The history, nature, and theory of federal competition policy -- Part one of a two-part strategy for understanding antitrust economics -- Part two of the two-part strategy : economic generalizations that pervade modern antitrust -- The all-important concept of market power -- An introduction to...

Monopoly - it's not just a game : the roots of America's anti-monopolist movement -- Don't trust the trusts : James J. Hill, the Gilded Age, and the labor movement -- A heartland rebellion : the grangers, a political prairie fire, and a republican authors the Sherman Act -- Teddy Roosevelt and...

There can be no doubt that the FANG companies – Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google, as well as Twitter – have transformed society since their emergence. Like all social transformations, the changes wrought by their services have had ripple effects that are both positive and negative. On...

We analyze the pricing behavior of firms when explicit partial cartels have formed in experimental markets through communication. Using a repeated, asymmetric capacity constraint price game, we show that, in line with theory, a partial cartel is sufficient to increase market prices for all...

An antitrust authority deters collusion using fines and a leniency program. It chooses the probability of an investigation. Firms pick the degree of collusion: The more they collude, the higher are profits, but so is the probability of detection. Firms thus trade-off higher profits against...

Private equity firms (PE firms) have become common owners of established firms in concentrated markets. We show that the threat of a PE acquisition can trigger incumbent mergers in an otherwise mergerstable industry. This can help antitrust authorities maximize consumer surplus because...

This study constructs a model of anticompetitive exclusive-offer competition between two existing upstream firms. Under exclusive-offer competition, the upstream firm's profit depends on the rival’s exclusive offer. If the rival makes an exclusive offer acceptable for the downstream firm, the...

Competition agency guidelines, policy statements and related advocacy are an important vehicle for policy expression and the guidance of firms across the full spectrum of anti-competitive practices and market conduct. The role of guidelines and policy statements has, arguably, been particularly...

"Multi-sided platform markets characterized by network externalities have always existed as an economic paradigm, but in different technological forms.1 The old village market place, physical shopping malls, or any traditional fair can be seen as multi-sided platform markets connecting buyers...