The Influence of Economics on Antitrust Law

Since the very beginning of antitrsut legislation, microeconomics has influenced the context as well as the implementation of the law. Because economic development is in nature very cyclical, merger policy can not be static, being influenced also by the development of economic theory. There are remarkable differences between American and European law with respect to the treatment of some hot issues in antitrust, such as merger control. Wile in the U.S., the policy principles have been modified to incorporate recent theoretical developments in Industrial Organization, such as the analysis of oligopoly behavior and the role of efficiencies, in European competition policy only recently have moved to embrace a post-Chicago approach with an emphasis on efficiency (particularly as it applies to European firms), but the officials still hold on to a populist approach, with a greater focus on defending the interests of producers (firms and workers) and to an “ordoliberal” approach.