John Kwoka's Mergers, Merger Control, and Remedies: A Critical Review

29 Pages Posted: 22 Dec 2016

See all articles by Michael Vita

Michael Vita

U.S. Federal Trade Commission - Bureau of Economics

F. David Osinski

Federal Trade Commission

Date Written: December 21, 2016

Abstract

John Kwoka’s recently published Mergers, Merger Control, and Remedies (2015) has received considerable attention from both antitrust practitioners and academics. The book features a meta-analysis of retrospective studies of consummated mergers, joint ventures, and other horizontal arrangements. Based on summary statistics derived from these studies, Kwoka concludes that domestic antitrust agencies are excessively tolerant in their merger enforcement; that merger remedies are ineffective at mitigating market power; and that merger enforcement has become increasingly lax over time. We review both his evidence and his empirical methods, and conclude that serious deficiencies in both undermine the basis for these conclusions.

Keywords: antitrust, mergers, public policy

JEL Classification: L40, L41, L00, C18

Suggested Citation

Vita, Michael and Osinski, F. David, John Kwoka's Mergers, Merger Control, and Remedies: A Critical Review (December 21, 2016). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2888485 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2888485

Michael Vita (Contact Author)

U.S. Federal Trade Commission - Bureau of Economics ( email )

600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580
United States

F. David Osinski

Federal Trade Commission ( email )

600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20580
United States

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