This paper develops a game-theoretic model to study how exclusionary contracts affect firms' incentives to invest in innovation. Several symmetric sellers compete to supply an identical product to a set of buyers, and each seller can invest in R&D to develop a higher-quality version of the...

Aufgrund stark gestiegener Stromkosten möchte die deutsche Bundesregierung ab 2026 mit dem Industriestrompreis energieintensive Branchen entlasten, indem bis zu 50 Prozent ihres Verbrauchs auf 50 Prozent des Großhandelspreises (min. 50 €/ MWh) gedeckelt werden. Dieser reiht sich in eine...

Aufgrund stark gestiegener Stromkosten möchte die deutsche Bundesregierung ab 2026 mit dem Industriestrompreis energieintensive Branchen entlasten, indem bis zu 50 Prozent ihres Verbrauchs auf 50 Prozent des Großhandelspreises (min. 50 €/ MWh) gedeckelt werden. Dieser reiht sich in eine...

This paper argues that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has outlived the economic and technological conditions that justified its creation. The monopolistic telephone and spectrumscarcity environments of 1934 have been replaced by dynamic, intermodal competition across broadband,...

How do global production networks and market structure interact to shape the welfare effects of trade and competition policy? We develop a model with two-sided firm heterogeneity, matching frictions, and imperfect supplier competition. More productive buyers match with more suppliers, inducing...

Algorithms pose interesting challenges to competition law, particularly discussing which practices involving this fast-paced technologies may or should be caught under Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ("TFEU"). As AI-driven pricing algorithms become increasingly...

Over the past two decades, large technology firms have evolved into complex digital ecosystems operating across multiple, interconnected markets. This transformation has been driven not only by internal innovation, but also by extensive merger and acquisition activity, much of which has taken...

Market definition is fundamental to EU competition law. It serves as a preliminary step in assessing dominance, anti-competitive conduct, and merger control. With respect to the pharmaceutical sector, traditional approaches to defining the relevant market face specific hurdles. Therapeutic...

Business dynamism has been slowing globally over the last several decades. In a recent study, Akcigit and Ates (2023) examine the relative importance of different channels behind this development and highlight weakened knowledge diffusion from the technology frontier to followers as a dominant...

We introduce a choice-set approach to defining markets and a novel method to empirically recover geographic markets using machine learning, Spatial and Categorical Bayesian Clustering (SCBC). SCBC leverages the identity of the seller for each observation to capture market structures in a novel...

Purpose The paper examines the impact of market power on wages within the context of a developing country, focusing on Brazil. Design/methodology/approach With access to matched employer-employee data from Brazil, we first characterized the evolution of the local labor market concentration...

Competition authorities impose substantial penalties on firms engaging in illegal pricefixing. We examine how basing cartel fines on either revenue, profit, or price overcharge influences cartel and market prices, as well as cartel incidence and stability. In an infinitely repeated Bertrand...

Efficient institutions matter in promoting Global Value Chains (GVCs) participation since they help reduce transaction costs for firms that engage in trade. Competition policy is considered an important dimension of these institutions. This paper investigates whether competition policy matters...

This paper investigates the effects of competition laws and regulations on manufacturing firms productivity in Latin American countries (LACs), addressing a gap in existing research. Leveraging firm-level panel data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys across 14 LAC economies and competition...

This study constructs a model of exclusive-offer competition between two existing up-stream 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 upstream firm is...

For decades, industrial policy and competition policy have been viewed as inherently conflicting, particularly where state intervention may distort markets. However, the current era of geopolitical uncertainty, technological transformation and fragile global supply chains calls for a rethinking...

A common approach to markets with adverse selection is to regulate competition to minimize inefficiencies, while preserving consumer choice among firms. We study the role of procurement auctions - leading to sole provision by the winning firm - as an alternative market design. Relative to...

Although citizens value competitive markets and support small businesses, we observe substantial variation in market concentration. Why do politicians abstain from taking action to reduce concentration? We propose an often overlooked political benefit to concentrated markets: When concentration...

Dieses Positionspapier entstand im Rahmen der Tagung "Wettbewerb als geniales Entmachtungsinstrument - In Gedenken an Prof. Dr. Heike Schweitzer, LL.M. (Yale)", der Stiftung Marktwirtschaft, die am 11. Juni 2025 in Berlin stattfand. Es formuliert zentrale Handlungsempfehlungen, die sich an den...

We analyze vertical integration in auction markets using a symmetric independent private-values model where the auctioneer invests in the auctioned object's quality. We find that the auctioneer invests more after integration. The integrated bidder enjoys a bidding advantage over other bidders....

This report examines two pivotal dimensions of the competitive process: the dynamics of market competition in developing economies and the role of government interventions in strengthening market competition, to provide updated policy recommendations. Chapter 1 presents stylized facts on the...

The Handbook on EU Competition Law - Rules Applicable to Merger Control gives an overview about EU legislation applicable in the field of Merger Control. The new 2010 edition includes the changes introduced by the Lisbon Treaty.