Generating Evidence to Guide Merger Enforcement

26 Pages Posted: 23 Mar 2009 Last revised: 9 Dec 2022

See all articles by Orley Ashenfelter

Orley Ashenfelter

Princeton University - Industrial Relations Section; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Daniel S. Hosken

Government of the United States of America - Federal Trade Commission

Matthew Weinberg

Government of the United States of America - Federal Trade Commission

Date Written: March 2009

Abstract

The challenge of effective merger enforcement is tremendous. U.S. antitrust agencies must, by statute, quickly forecast the competitive effects of mergers that occur in virtually every sector of the economy to determine if mergers can proceed. Surprisingly, given the complexity of the regulators task, there is remarkably little empirical evidence on the effects of mergers to guide regulators. This paper describes the necessity of retrospective analysis of past mergers in building an empirical basis for antitrust enforcement, and provides guidance on the key measurement issues researchers confront in estimating the price effects of mergers. We also describe how evidence from merger retrospectives can be used to evaluate the economic models used to predict the competitive effects of mergers.

Suggested Citation

Ashenfelter, Orley C. and Hosken, Daniel S. and Weinberg, Matthew, Generating Evidence to Guide Merger Enforcement (March 2009). NBER Working Paper No. w14798, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1366198

Orley C. Ashenfelter (Contact Author)

Princeton University - Industrial Relations Section ( email )

Princeton, NJ 08544-2098
United States
609-258-4040 (Phone)
609-258-2907 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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IZA Institute of Labor Economics

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Germany

Daniel S. Hosken

Government of the United States of America - Federal Trade Commission ( email )

600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20580
United States

Matthew Weinberg

Government of the United States of America - Federal Trade Commission ( email )

600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20580
United States