The Relevance of Behavioural Economics in Antitrust

28 Pages Posted: 26 Nov 2008

See all articles by Christoph Engel

Christoph Engel

Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods; University of Bonn - Faculty of Law & Economics; Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), Erasmus School of Law, Rotterdam Institute of Law and Economics, Students; Universität Osnabrück - Faculty of Law

Date Written: November 2008

Abstract

Hardly any antitrust lawyer would deny that antitrust needs solid foundations in economics. Antitrust authorities hire economists, if they do not even haven the position of a chief economist. Antitrust not only capitalises on economic theory, but it is equally sensitive to empirical studies, be it case studies or econometrics. Yet antitrust has been much less open to behavioural research, although quite some antitrust issues are reflected in a rich body of experimental evidence.

This paper mainly serves a methodological purpose. Relying on a meta-study of oligopoly experiments published elsewhere, it demonstrates in which way experimental evidence can productively be introduced into the antitrust discourse. To that end, it presents main effects, interaction effects, effect sizes and multivariate statistics, and discusses pertinent doctrinal reflection points. The paper concludes by showing how a new experiment, triggered by a doctrinal issue, can be used to inform the antitrust authorities.

Note: Downloadable document is in German.

Keywords: Antitrust, Behavioural Law and Economics, Oligopoly, Coordinated Effects, Tacit Collusion, Merger Guidelines

JEL Classification: D21, D43, K21, L13, L41

Suggested Citation

Engel, Christoph, The Relevance of Behavioural Economics in Antitrust (November 2008). MPI Collective Goods Preprint, No. 2008/40, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1307621 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1307621

Christoph Engel (Contact Author)

Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods ( email )

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Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), Erasmus School of Law, Rotterdam Institute of Law and Economics, Students ( email )

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Universität Osnabrück - Faculty of Law

Osnabruck, D-49069
Germany

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