We use the recent introduction of biofuels to study the effect of industry factors on the relation-ships between wholesale commodity prices. Correlations between agricultural products and oil are strongest in the 2005-09 period, coinciding with the boom of biofuels, and remain substantial until...

This paper compares the performance of centralized and decentralized markets experimentally. We constrain trading exchanges to happen on an exogenously predetermined network, representing the trading relationships in markets with differing levels of connectivity. Our experimental results show...

In our paper targets, by setting a reserve price, screen acquirers on their (expected) ability to generate merger-speci?c synergies. Both empirical evidence and many common merger models suggest that the di?erence between high- and low-synergy mergers becomes smaller during booms. This implies...

We present an ex-post analysis of the effects of GDF's acquisition of Suez in 2006 created one of the world's largest energy companies. We perform an econometric analysis, based on Difference-in-Difference techniques on the market for trading on the Zeebrugge gas hub in Belgium. Removing...

During 2006 and 2007, by means of the Royal Decree Law 3/2006, the Royal Decree 1634/2006 and the Order ITC/400/2007, several changes were introduced in the running of the wholesale electricity market in Spain. One of the objectives of these measures was to diminish the market power in the...

In our paper targets, by setting a reserve price, screen acquirers on their (expected) ability to generate merger-speci?c synergies. Both empirical evidence and many common merger models suggest that the di?erence between high- and low-synergy mergers becomes smaller during booms. This implies...

This Paper studies the private incentives and the social effects of horizontal mergers among risk-averse firms. In our model, merging firms are allowed to choose how to split their joint profits, with implications for risk sharing and strategic behaviour in the product market. If firms compete...

This study examines whether EU competition policy enforcement has led to stronger competition in European gas and electricity markets and hence lower prices, higher investment and improved productivity. Specifically, the study analyses the impact of competition policy enforcement on shortrun...

The object of this contribution is to address the question of the ownership of the firm. Both law and economics shape representations of the world: law focuses on " rules and justice; economics focuses on efficiency and allocation. They describe" " common situations and ""objects'' such as firms...

In this paper we study the ways in which the firm's choice of liquid assets is affected by the pattern of share ownership and by the control structures within the firm. We distinguish between three separate ways in which these relationships can affect liquid- ity. First, ownership concentration...