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Econometric Methods in Staples


Orley Ashenfelter


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

David Ashmore


Princeton University

Jonathan B. Baker


American University - Washington College of Law

Suzanne Gleason


Trinity College - Department of Economics

Daniel S. Hosken


Government of the United States of America - Federal Trade Commission

April 9, 2004

Princeton Law & Public Affairs Paper No. 04-007

Abstract:     
Econometrics played a major role in the investigation and litigation of the Federal Trade Commission's successful challenge to the proposed merger between two office superstore chains, Staples and Office Depot. Our goal in writing this essay is to describe the econometric issues at stake in evaluating the FTC's central claim that the price charged by office supply superstores was related to the number and identity of superstore firms participating in the market. Similar statistical models were relied upon by the FTC and the merging firms to analyze pricing. Our discussion of these models highlights the advantages and disadvantages of alternative approaches to analyzing a panel data set: cross-sectional estimates versus fixed effects estimates. We also describe and evaluate modeling choices that appeared to have substantial influence on the empirical results.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 21

JEL Classification: K22, L40, L81, C24

working papers series


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Date posted: July 9, 2004  

Suggested Citation

Ashenfelter, Orley C., Ashmore, David, Baker, Jonathan B., Gleason, Suzanne and Hosken, Daniel S., Econometric Methods in Staples (April 9, 2004). Princeton Law & Public Affairs Paper No. 04-007. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=529144 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.529144

Contact Information

Orley C. Ashenfelter
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)
1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany
David Ashmore
Princeton University ( email )
Princeton, NJ 08544-1021
United States
609-683-4222 (Phone)
609-683-4239 (Fax)
Jonathan B. Baker (Contact Author)
American University - Washington College of Law ( email )
4801 Massachusetts Avenue N.W.
Washington, DC 20016
United States
202-274-4315 (Phone)
Suzanne Gleason
Trinity College - Department of Economics ( email )
300 Summit Street
Hartford, CT 06106
United States
Daniel S. Hosken
Government of the United States of America - Federal Trade Commission ( email )
601 New Jersey Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20580
United States
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