Some Limits to the Private Enforcement of Antitrust Law: A Grumbler's View on Harm and Damages in Hardcore Price Cartel Cases

Abstract

This paper demonstrates that the concepts of harm and damages as they are used in tort law pose some serious conceptual problems in the area of antitrust law. Consequently, there are some limits to the private enforcement of antitrust law via damages actions that have to be taken into account when considering to what extent private damages actions should be facilitated. The focus here is on the case of a hardcore price cartel.

Specific features of harm and damages in antitrust law are discussed in the next section. Thereafter, a simple numerical example is used to show that the recent discussion on harm caused by price cartels systematically neglects some important feedback effects and produces a biased assessment of the harm suffered by different groups of victims.

JEL Classification: K21, K42, L40