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This article explores the role of customers in informing competition authorities and courts about the likely effects of proposed mergers. It discusses when, and about what, customers are most likely to be valuable sources of information. It also discusses the potential limitations of customer testimony. Customer views can certainly be informative. However, they are best employed as a complement to, rather than a substitute for, economic analysis that employs more objective evidence. Although the welfare of consumers appears increasingly to have been accepted by competition authorities as the appropriate goal for merger policy, customers will not necessarily have available the information required to predict the economic consequences of a proposed merger. And even when they do, customers may be reluctant reliably and accurately to provide that information, or to express their true opinions, to investigators and before courts. Worse yet, customers may themselves stand to benefit from mergers that are anticompetitive, or may be harmed by mergers that are welfare-enhancing. Appreciating both the strengths and the limitations of customer input is critical to the cause of sound merger enforcement, not only in the U.S., but overseas as well. A growing number of countries, many of whom have less experience or expertise than do competition authorities in the U.S., have begun to adopt merger control policies themselves, and are in the process of developing and implementing investigative best practices. They, at least as much as we, can benefit from better understanding the advantages, as well as the potential pitfalls, of using the views of customers to help ensure the welfare of consumers.
This article explores the role of customers in informing competition authorities and courts about the likely effects of proposed mergers. It discusses when, and about what, customers are most likely to be valuable sources of information. It also discusses the potential limitations of customer testimony. Customer views can certainly be informative. However, they are best employed as a complement to, rather than a substitute for, economic analysis that employs more objective evidence. Although the welfare of consumers appears increasingly to have been accepted by competition authorities as the appropriate goal for merger policy, customers will not necessarily have available the information required to predict the economic consequences of a proposed merger. And even when they do, customers may be reluctant reliably and accurately to provide that information, or to express their true opinions, to investigators and before courts. Worse yet, customers may themselves stand to benefit from mergers that are anticompetitive, or may be harmed by mergers that are welfare-enhancing. Appreciating both the strengths and the limitations of customer input is critical to the cause of sound merger enforcement, not only in the U.S., but overseas as well. A growing number of countries, many of whom have less experience or expertise than do competition authorities in the U.S., have begun to adopt merger control policies themselves, and are in the process of developing and implementing investigative best practices. They, at least as much as we, can benefit from better understanding the advantages, as well as the potential pitfalls, of using the views of customers to help ensure the welfare of consumers.
The Antitrust Revolution: Economics, Competition, and Policy, Fifth Edition, examines the critical role of economic analysis in recent antitrust case decisions and policy. The book consists of economic studies of twenty-one of the most significant antitrust cases of recent years, twelve of them new to this edition and nine updated from the fourth edition. These cases include alleged anticompetitive practices by Visa and MasterCard, Microsoft, and Kodak; mergers--proposed or consummated--by Staples and Office Depot, PSEG and Exelon, EchoStar and DirecTV, and Heinz and Beech-Nut; and other competitive issues such as predatory pricing in the airline industry, "reverse-payments" in settlements of patent litigation, the use of bundled rebates by dominant firms, exclusive dealing, and retailer-instigated restraints on supplier sales. New overview essays precede the four sections of the book: Horizontal Structure; Horizontal Practices; Vertical and Related Market Issues; and Network Issues. Commissioned and edited by John E. Kwoka, Jr., and Lawrence J. White, the case studies are written by prominent economists who participated in the proceedings. These economists were responsible for helping to formulate the economic issues, undertake the necessary research, and offer arguments in court. As a result, they are uniquely qualified to describe and analyze the cases. Fully updated with the most current examples, this volume provides detailed and comprehensive insight into the central role that is now played and will continue to be played by economists in the antitrust process. The Antitrust Revolution, Fifth Edition, is ideal for undergraduate and graduate classes in industrial organization, government policy, and antitrust/regulation law and economics. It is also a useful reference book for lawyers and economists-both academics and practitioners-who are interested in the types of economic analyses that have been applied in recent antitrust cases. A companion website featuring cases from the previous four editions is available at www.oup.com/us/antitrustrevolution.
This book addresses the question of how competition authorities assess mergers in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector so as to promote competition in innovation. A closer look at the question reveals that it is far more complex and difficult to answer for the ICT, telecommunications and multi-sided platform (MSP) economy than for more traditional sectors of the economy. This has led many scholars to re-think and question whether the current merger control framework is suitable for the ICT sector, which is often also referred to as the new economy. The book pursues an interdisciplinary approach combining insights from law, economics and corporate strategy. Further, it has a comparative dimension, as it discusses the practices of the US, the EU and, wherever relevant, of other competition authorities from around the globe. Considering that the research was conducted in the EU, the practices of the European Commission remain a key aspect of the content.Considering its normative dimension, the book concentrates on the substantive aspects of merger control. To facilitate a better understanding of the most important points, the book also offers a brief overview of the procedural aspects of merger control in the EU, the US and the UK, and discusses recent amendments to Austrian and German law regarding the notification threshold. Given its scope, the book offers an invaluable guide for competition law scholars, practitioners in the field, and competition authorities worldwide.
Every October the Fordham Competition Law Institute brings together leading figures from governmental organizations, leading international law firms and corporations and academia to examine and analyze the most important issues in international antitrust and trade policy of the United States, the EU and the world. This work is the most definitive and comprehensive annual analysis of international antitrust law and policy available anywhere. Each annual edition sets out to explore and analyze the areas of antitrust/competition law that have had the most impact in that year. Recent "hot topics" include antitrust enforcement in Asia, Latin America: competition enforcement in the areas of telecommunications, media and information technology. All of the chapters raise questions of policy or discuss new developments and assess their significance and impact on antitrust and trade policy. The chapters are revised and updated before publication when necessary. As a result, the reader receives up-to-date practical tips and important analyses of difficult policy issues. The annual volumes are an indispensable guide through the sea of international antitrust law. The Fordham Competition Law Proceedings are acknowledged as simply the most definitive US/EC annual analyses of antitrust/competition law published.
This volume contains articles and panel discussions delivered during the Thirty-Ninth Annual Fordham Competition Law Institute Conference on International Antitrust Law & Policy. About the Proceedings: Every October the Fordham Competition Law Institute brings together leading figures from governmental organizations, leading international law firms and corporations and academia to examine and analyze the most important issues in international antitrust and trade policy of the United States, the EU and the world. This work is the most definitive and comprehensive annual analysis of international antitrust law and policy available anywhere. The chapters are revised and updated before publication, where necessary. As a result, the reader receives up-to-date practical tips and important analyses of difficult policy issues. The annual volumes are an indispensable guide through the sea of international antitrust law. The Fordham Competition Law Proceedings are acknowledged as simply the most definitive US/EC annual analyses of antitrust/competition law published. Each annual edition sets out to explore and analyze the areas of antitrust/competition law that have had the most impact in that year. Recent "hot topics" include antitrust enforcement in Asia, Latin America: competition enforcement in the areas of telecommunications, media and information technology. All of the chapters raise questions of policy or discuss new developments and assess their significance and impact on antitrust and trade policy.
A fundamental economic reconstruction of merger analysis to strengthen our ability to determine mergers’ likely effects and improve merger regulation. Why rethink merger analysis? Because methods employed throughout the world violate basic precepts of decision analysis and economics. Fundamental principles are underdeveloped, inhibiting research, policy formulation, and merger review. In Rethinking Merger Analysis, Louis Kaplow undertakes a foundational analysis of the questions central to understanding and regulating horizontal mergers and shows why many conventional practices need to be altered or replaced. On the empirical front, Kaplow offers insights, identifies shortcomings, and proposes extensions of existing research. Altogether, merger review can be greatly improved to better identify harmful mergers and avoid thwarting beneficial ones. The correct economic analysis of anticompetitive effects conflicts sharply with the reigning market definition paradigm. This protocol is more deeply flawed than appreciated, readily produces large errors, and can result in uncertainty bounds on challenge thresholds of two orders of magnitude. Merger efficiencies are underanalyzed because of the failure to draw on relevant disciplines and pertinent industry expertise. Postmerger entry’s role is mischaracterized in merger guidelines, and its direct welfare effects are ignored. Entry induced by the prospect of a subsequent buyout has until recently been disregarded. Proper assessment requires a dynamic framing that accounts for a merger regime’s influence on the creation and capabilities of new generations of startups that are central to economic dynamism. This book eschews advocacy and instead focuses on clear thinking—indeed, rethinking—about how to improve merger policy and assessment.