The Effect of Antitrust Policy on Consumer Welfare

The Effect of Antitrust Policy on Consumer Welfare PDF Author: Gregory J. Werden
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Antitrust law
Languages : en
Pages : 26

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The Effect of Antitrust Policy on Consumer Welfare

The Effect of Antitrust Policy on Consumer Welfare PDF Author: Gregory J. Werden
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Antitrust law
Languages : en
Pages : 26

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Book Description


The Effect of Antitrust Policy on Consumer Welfare

The Effect of Antitrust Policy on Consumer Welfare PDF Author: Gregory J. Werden
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Antitrust law
Languages : en
Pages : 7

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The Antitrust Paradox

The Antitrust Paradox PDF Author: Robert Bork
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781736089712
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 536

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Book Description
The most important book on antitrust ever written. It shows how antitrust suits adversely affect the consumer by encouraging a costly form of protection for inefficient and uncompetitive small businesses.

The Attack on Antitrust Policy and Consumer Welfare

The Attack on Antitrust Policy and Consumer Welfare PDF Author: Kwoka, Jr. (John E.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 13

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Book Description
In their paper “The Effect of Antitrust Policy on Consumer Welfare,” Robert Crandall and Clifford Winston advance an argument that others have previously made - namely, that antitrust policy in the United States is, on balance, welfare reducing. While past arguments have typically been ideological in nature or at most anecdotal in their support, Crandall and Winston (hereafter, CW) purport to provide empirical evidence: “This paper synthesizes the available scholarly evidence regarding the effect of antitrust policy on consumer prices and in deterring anti-competitive behavior.” They conclude that deadweight loss is small, the extent of anticompetitive activity is “quite limited,” and it is the market rather than antitrust which is responsible for “spurring competition and curbing anti-competitive abuses.” Providing empirical evidence on the question of the effects of antitrust policy is a commendable objective. Along with many other observers, this author has long noted the absence of systematic evidence or even many good case studies that establish the effects. This is in sharp contrast, for example, to regulation and deregulation, whose effects are often and well studied in economics. In the case of regulation, however, the effects are usually both broad and deep, so that empirical work can discern the incremental effect of policy. Much antitrust, in contrast, works at the margins of conduct, often presents difficult counterfactuals, and in any case has effects easily swamped by other forces impinging upon the firm or industry. For these reasons, modeling and data adequate to the task of assessing antitrust policy have been hard to develop. Crandall and Winston have not developed new modeling techniques or data. Instead, what they offer as “empirical evidence” is a review of selectively chosen examples of the application of antitrust, which they criticize for reasons both relevant and irrelevant to their point, and are ultimately inconclusive anyway, together with statistical work that appears to show the ineffectiveness of antitrust but in reality is based on a flawed model and data incapable of discerning any effect. This comment is intended to highlight these aspects of the CW attack on antitrust policy and consumer welfare.

Research Handbook on the Economics of Antitrust Law

Research Handbook on the Economics of Antitrust Law PDF Author: Einer Elhauge
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 0857938096
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 425

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Book Description
One might mistakenly think that the long tradition of economic analysis in antitrust law would mean there is little new to say. Yet the field is surprisingly dynamic and changing. The specially commissioned chapters in this landmark volume offer a rigorous analysis of the field's most current and contentious issues. Focusing on those areas of antitrust economics that are most in flux, leading scholars discuss topics such as: mergers that create unilateral effects or eliminate potential competition; whether market definition is necessary; tying, bundled discounts, and loyalty discounts; a new theory of predatory pricing; assessing vertical price-fixing after Leegin; proving horizontal agreements after Twombly; modern analysis of monopsony power; the economics of antitrust enforcement; international antitrust issues; antitrust in regulated industries; the antitrust-patent intersection; and modern methods for measuring antitrust damages. Students and scholars of law and economics, law practitioners, regulators, and economists with an interest in industrial organization and consulting will find this seminal Handbook an essential and informative resource.

A Reputational View of Antitrust's Consumer Welfare Standard

A Reputational View of Antitrust's Consumer Welfare Standard PDF Author: Murat C. Mungan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A reform movement is underway in antitrust. Citing prior enforcement failures, deviations from the original intent of the antitrust laws, and overall rising levels of sector concentration, some are seeking to fundamentally alter or altogether replace the current consumer welfare standard, which has guided courts over the past 50 years. This policy push has sparked an intense debate on the best approach to antitrust law enforcement. In this Article, we examine a previously unexplored potential social cost from moving away from the consumer welfare standard: a loss in the information value to the public from a finding of liability. A virtue of the current standard is the knowledge that firms who violate the antitrust laws have harmed consumers. This simple reality is a direct, easy-to-interpret signal to market participants and investors. In contrast, a broader and more nebulous standard, such as a “public interest” approach--which has been proposed by some academics and agency officials--could conceivably water down the information value of a finding of liability. In essence, the greater license that regulators and courts have to condemn a business practice beyond a finding of harm to consumers, then the noisier the signal to the public about what the verdict actually means. We can call this phenomenon “the stigma dilution effect.” To that end, we develop a formal model to gain insight into the role of reputation in the enforcement and deterrence effects of antitrust laws. The model reveals broadening the welfare standard is likely to weaken the reputational impact of antitrust violations. This dilution can, in turn, have implications which go against what the proponents of abolishing the consumer welfare standard desire. Namely, a new standard could increase, rather than decrease, the frequency of conduct they seek to deter. Thus, our analysis suggests that there may be important and underappreciated costs associated with departures from the consumer welfare standard. In fact, the presence of reputational considerations suggests that these departures can produce effects contrary to the stated goals of their proponents.

The Microsoft Case

The Microsoft Case PDF Author: William H. Page
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226644650
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 363

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Book Description
In 1998, the United States Department of Justice and state antitrust agencies charged that Microsoft was monopolizing the market for personal computer operating systems. More than ten years later, the case is still the defining antitrust litigation of our era. William H. Page and John E. Lopatka’s The Microsoft Case contributes to the debate over the future of antitrust policy by examining the implications of the litigation from the perspective of consumer welfare. The authors trace the development of the case from its conceptual origins through the trial and the key decisions on both liability and remedies. They argue that, at critical points, the legal system failed consumers by overrating government’s ability to influence outcomes in a dynamic market. This ambitious book is essential reading for business, law, and economics scholars as well as anyone else interested in the ways that technology, economics, and antitrust law have interacted in the digital age. “This book will become the gold standard for analysis of the monopolization cases against Microsoft. . . . No serious student of law or economic policy should go without reading it.”—Thomas C. Arthur, Emory University

The Causes and Consequences of Antitrust

The Causes and Consequences of Antitrust PDF Author: Fred S. McChesney
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226556352
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 426

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Book Description
Why has antitrust legislation not lived up to its promise of promoting free-market competition and protecting consumers? Assessing 100 years of antitrust policy in the United States, this book shows that while the antitrust laws claim to serve the public good, they are as vulnerable to the influence of special interest groups as are agricultural, welfare, or health care policies. Presenting classic studies and new empirical research, the authors explain how antitrust caters to self-serving business interests at the expense of the consumer. The contributors are Peter Asch, George Bittlingmayer, Donald J. Boudreaux, Malcolm B. Coate, Louis De Alessi, Thomas J. DiLorenzo, B. Epsen Eckbo, Robert B. Ekelund, Jr., Roger L. Faith, Richard S. Higgins, William E. Kovacic, Donald R. Leavens, William F. Long, Fred S. McChesney, Mike McDonald, Stephen Parker, Richard A. Posner, Paul H. Rubin, Richard Schramm, Joseph J. Seneca, William F. Shughart II, Jon Silverman, George J. Stigler, Robert D. Tollison, Charlie M. Weir, Peggy Wier, and Bruce Yandle.

Does Antitrust Need to be Modernized?

Does Antitrust Need to be Modernized? PDF Author: Dennis W. Carlton
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Antitrust law
Languages : en
Pages : 30

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The Antitrust Paradox

The Antitrust Paradox PDF Author: Robert H. Bork
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Antitrust law
Languages : en
Pages : 520

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Book Description
Since it first appeared in 1978, this seminal work by one of the foremost American legal minds of our age has dramatically changed the way the courts view government's role in private affairs. Now reissued with a new introduction and epilogue by the author, this classic shows how antitrust suits adversely affect the consumer by encouraging a costly form of protection for inefficient and uncompetitive small businesses. Robert Bork's view of antitrust law has had a profound impact on how the law has been both interpreted and applied. The Antitrust Paradox illustrates how the purpose and integrity of law can be subverted by those who do not understand the reality law addresses or who seek to make it serve unintended political and social ends. - Back cover.