The main feature of the penalty schemes described in current sentencing guidelines is that the fine is based on the accumulated gains from cartel or price-fixing activities for the firm.These gains are usually difficult to estimate, but they can be approximated by a fraction of the turnover.The...

This paper studies the effects of leniency programs on the behavior of firms participating in illegal cartel agreements.The main contribution of the paper is that we consider asymmetric firms.In general, firms differ in size and operate in several different markets.In our model, they form a...

Abstract: We analyse a newspaper market where two editors first choose the political position of their newspaper, then set cover prices and advertising tariffs. We build on the work of Gabszewicz, Laussel and Sonnac (2001, 2002), whose model of competition among newspaper publishers we take as...

We analyze a differential game describing the interactions between a firm that might be violating competition law and the antitrust authority.The objective of the authority is to minimize social costs (loss in consumer surplus) induced by an increase in prices above marginal costs.It turns out...

The present study examines the impact of several industry characteristics on the propensity to collude using a dataset on the existence of collusion across Dutch industries during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The results of the Probit model with sample selection indicate that our sample of...

We propose a methodology for estimating the competition effects from entry when firms sell differentiated products. We first derive precise conditions under which Bres- nahan and Reiss'entry threshold ratios (ETRs) can be used to test for the presence and to measure the magnitude of competition...

Firms will exert too little preventive care if damages are likely to exceed their equity. This is particularly important for environmental and product liability and motivates the current discussion about extending liability to creditors. We propose a model where the firm can be financed by...

This paper studies the consequences of asymmetric litigation costs. Under three differ- ent protocols: static legal process, dynamic legal process with exogenous sequencing and dynamic legal process with endogenous sequencing, solutions are obtained for the litigation efforts and the expected...

We explore the incentives countries face in trade litigation within the new WTO Dispute Settlement System. Our analysis yields a number of interesting predictions. First, because sanctions are ruled out during the litigation process, the Dispute Settlement System does not preclude all new trade...

Companies are sometimes accused of misleading the market. The SEC can punish this with enforcement actions. Alternatively, shareholders can seek redress through a shareholder class action (SCA). While some literature has examined SEC actions, it has not examined SCAs, and has not examined...