In this Article we focus upon an area in which greater convergence of U.S. policy with the practice of many foreign countries is long overdue: the treatment of public policies that suppress competition. Whereas the European Union (“EU”) and numerous other jurisdictions have taken strong...

This thesis studies the impact, determinants, organization, internal dynamics and characteristics of Dutch cartels during a period in which most cartels were legal. We concentrate on the legal-cartel era defined as the period 1935–1998 wherein the Dutch legislation was cartel friendly. The...

Complexity science is widely used across the policy spectrum but not in antitrust. This is unfortunate. Complexity science enables a rich understanding of competition beyond the simplistic descriptions of markets and firms proposed by neoclassical models and their contemporary neo-Brandeisian...

We explain why competing firms form collective entities to buy patents from other entities, particularly from non-producing entities (NPEs), and follow a catch and release patent strategy. We show why competitors bidding as a single unit is better than competitors bidding against each other and...

The fight against cartels is a priority for antitrust authorities on both sides of the Atlantic. What differs between the EU and the US is not the basic toolkit for achieving deterrence, but to whom it is targeted. In the EU, pecuniary sanctions against the firm are the only instruments...

This paper finds evidence of an inverse U shape in the number of cartels detected by a Competition Agency (CA) over its lifetime. We interpret this as evidence that, as the CA builds up experience in enforcement, this feeds back into the business community to deter future cartel formation. We...

There have been a number of studies attempting to quantify the impact of cartels and mergers on prices. The state of the art of empirical analysis related to antitrust is best illustrated by the research of John Connor and John Kwoka. Connor summarizes the existing empirical research that...

The amino-acid lysine cartel was a watershed even in antitrust enforcement. It was the first global price-fixing conspiracy to be convicted by U.S. or EU antitrust authorities in 40 years. This paper presents an updated narrative of the history of the global lysine cartel and the legal...

This paper presents an updated narrative of the history of the global lysine cartel and the legal consequences for its members in the United States. The story focuses especially upon the role of economists in calculating the size of overcharges and how the estimates can affect the decisions of...

Antitrust policy in the United States has roughly twenty to thirty year cycles. So if past cycles are reliable indicators of future ones, we are at (or approaching) a new antitrust policy cycle, with 2025 being the approximate midpoint. Any new policy cycle will be defined by three fundamental...