Sometimes what appears to be a little, almost imperceptible change can have a huge impact on a policy regime. The recently revised DOJ/FTC Horizontal Merger Guidelines contain such a change, as the document recognizes the importance of Critical Loss Analysis in defining a market, but introduces...

Market definition, a concept that has long served to structure competitive analysis, is under assault from theoreticians who object to the inability of the standard analysis to define a market compatible with their models of unilateral effects. Although these unilateral models have not been...

In a recent paper, Gregory Werden and Luke Froeb present a general discussion of unilateral effects analysis with a particular focus on factors that limit the applicability of the Upward Pressure on Price (UPP) model. In one of our earlier papers, we had provided simple simulations showing that...

A recent edition of the CPI Antitrust Chronicle provided a range of perspectives on the applicability of the Upward Pricing Pressure (UPP) model to merger analysis. A number of key insights (e.g., the relevance of market definition, the usefulness of an UPP screen, the similarity between UPP and...

Economists have two basic methodologies: structuralism, in which formal economic models control the analysis, and experimentalism, in which economic theory guides the analysis, but data from experiments determines the policy recommendation. The choice between the two approaches is often quite...

This paper explores the Federal Trade Commission’s unilateral effects analysis from the perspectives of both the 1992 and 2010 Merger Guidelines. Historical enforcement data is used to define a diversion benchmark of 30 percent, but is unable to detect a role for the margin variable. A related...

This paper tests a model of political control of the bureaucracy using a data set of mergers evaluated by the Federal Trade Commission between 1983 and 2000. The results support a sophisticated control model in which the President sets the agenda within the scope of policies acceptable to...

The 2010 revision of the Merger Guidelines highlighted the importance of both economic modeling of the post-merger competitive process and effects evidence, defined as information able to predict the transaction’s likely competitive effect. With sufficient data, it is possible to see how...

This book focuses on the antitrust process and how that process affects the efficiency of antitrust law enforcement. The contributors share a wide range of experiences in the antitrust process, including academia, the legal environment, and both private and public sectors. The book deals first...