Relative performance evaluation (“RPE”) is a useful tool for shielding risk averse agents from systematic uncertainty. However, RPE can also destroy firm value by encouraging executives to implement excessively aggressive product market strategies to improve their relative standing through...

Over the last decade a large body of economic research has emerged that has sought to empirically test the effectiveness of leniency policies as tools to enhance the detection, prosecution and deterrence of cartel conduct. This research has considerable potential value in assisting competition...

We revisit the pros and cons of cartel criminalization with focus on its possible introduction in the EU. We document a recent phenomenon that we name EU ``leniency inflation", whereby leniency has been increasingly awarded to many, and sometimes all members of a cartel. We argue that, coupled...

Modern antitrust engenders a possible conflict between public and private enforcement due to the central role of Leniency Programs. Damage actions may reduce the attractiveness of Leniency Programs for cartel participants if their cooperation with the competition authority increases the chance...

We test the overarching hypothesis that financial institutions face relatively milder fines due to financial stability concerns. To do so, we use an event study approach on a sample of 441 listed cartel members prosecuted by the European Commission between 1998 and June 2020. Our results suggest...

The EU Leniency Programme (LP) aims to encourage the dissolution of existing cartels and the deterrence of future cartels, through spontaneous reporting and/or significant cooperation by cartel members during an investigation. However, the European Commission guidelines are rather vague in terms...

The existence and extent of recidivism have been highly debated in the last few years. This chapter examines the current theoretical, experimental and empirical literature on recidivism and related issues. It also presents novel evidence on: (i) the amount of recidivism in the EU between 1998...

This paper examines how the legal framework and macroeconomic environment impact cartel births and deaths. To avoid the inherent sample selection bias of prosecuted cartel studies, we use a unique dataset covering the population of Swedish legal cartels registered between 1947 and 1993. We...

The theoretical framework of the adequacy or otherwise of fine reductions under the EU and US Leniency Programmes has been explored widely. However, the characteristics of the reporting cartel members remain unexplained. This is the first paper to develop a model where cartel members are...

The optimization of fines to deter and detect cartel behavior is one of the main goals of competition policy. Although it is generally argued that fines should be high to be deterrent, the debate on what constitutes an optimal fine is unsettled and some authors suggest using profits (rather than...