The 2023 Merger Guidelines and Coordinated Effects: Recommendations for Robust Protection of Competition

21 Pages Posted: 23 Sep 2024

See all articles by Margaret C. Levenstein

Margaret C. Levenstein

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Survey Research Center; The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, Business Economics and Public Policy

Valerie Y. Suslow

Johns Hopkins University - Carey Business School

Date Written: September 09, 2024

Abstract

The 2023 Merger Guidelines include new criteria for evaluating proposed mergers for potential coordinated effects. This Article will examine lessons from explicit collusion to inform the implementation of these guidelines. Anticompetitive coordination has occurred throughout history in many and varied industries, usually in highly concentrated markets. Thus, protecting competition requires a skeptical attitude toward mergers in such concentrated oligopolies. Where markets are less concentrated, we argue that history, norms, and institutions can determine the risk of coordinated effects and should be included in the evaluation of proposed mergers.

Keywords: mergers, merger guidelines, coordinated effects, merger guidelines, coordinated effects

JEL Classification: L13, L41, G34

Suggested Citation

Levenstein, Margaret C. and Suslow, Valerie Y., The 2023 Merger Guidelines and Coordinated Effects: Recommendations for Robust Protection of Competition (September 09, 2024). Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Research Paper No. 24-11, George Mason Law Review, 2023 Merger Guidelines, Vol. 31, 2024, pp. 999-1018, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4964718 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4964718

Margaret C. Levenstein

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Survey Research Center ( email )

500 S. State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
United States
734-615-9088 (Phone)
734-647-1186 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~maggiel

The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, Business Economics and Public Policy

Ann Arbor, MI 48109
United States
734-764-8336 (Phone)

Valerie Y. Suslow (Contact Author)

Johns Hopkins University - Carey Business School ( email )

100 International Drive
Baltimore, MD 21202
United States

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