Competition and Mergers Among Nonprofits

Prufer, Jens

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1006762

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Competition and Mergers Among Nonprofits

TILEC Discussion Paper No. 2007-022

CentER Discussion Paper No. 2007-82

27 Pages Posted: 16 Aug 2007 Last revised: 30 Jan 2014

See all articles by Jens Prufer

Jens Prufer

Tilburg University - CentER; Tilburg University - Department of Economics; Tilburg University - Law and Economics Center (TILEC)

There are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: March 8, 2010

Abstract

Should mergers among nonprofit organizations be assessed differently than mergers among for-profit firms? A recent debate in law and economics, boosted by apparently one-sided court decisions, has produced the result that promoting competition is socially valuable regardless of the particular objectives of producers. In this paper, I challenge the general validity of this result by showing that it may indeed depend on the particular objectives of producers whether a merger between two nonprofits is welfare decreasing or increasing. This implies that it is impossible to assess the net effects of a merger between two nonprofits without examining the objectives of the owners involved.

Keywords: Nonprofits; Mergers; Antitrust; Not-for-profit Sector; Owner Objectives

JEL Classification: L44, L31, L22, K21

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Prufer, Jens, Competition and Mergers Among Nonprofits (March 8, 2010). TILEC Discussion Paper No. 2007-022, CentER Discussion Paper No. 2007-82, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1006762 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1006762