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Economics at the FTC: Multi-level Marketing and a Coal Joint Venture

Author

Listed:
  • Marta Wosińska

    (Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Economics)

  • David Givens

    (Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Economics)

  • Yan Lau

    (Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Economics)

  • Doug S. Smith

    (Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Economics)

  • Christopher Taylor

    (Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Economics)

  • Benjamin Wallace

    (Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Economics)

Abstract

Economists in the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Economics support the Commission’s dual missions of protecting consumers and maintaining competition by performing economic analyses. This article provides two examples of such work product: The first is a description of an analytical framework that FTC consumer protection economists use to assess multi-level marketing organizations. The second is a description of economic analysis that was undertaken to assess the effect of a joint venture between two coal companies that ultimately was challenged by the Commission.

Suggested Citation

  • Marta Wosińska & David Givens & Yan Lau & Doug S. Smith & Christopher Taylor & Benjamin Wallace, 2021. "Economics at the FTC: Multi-level Marketing and a Coal Joint Venture," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 59(4), pages 629-650, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:revind:v:59:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s11151-021-09845-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s11151-021-09845-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Farrell, Joseph & Shapiro, Carl, 1990. "Horizontal Mergers: An Equilibrium Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(1), pages 107-126, March.
    2. Moresi, Serge & Zenger, Hans, 2018. "Recapture ratios in merger analysis," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 136-138.
    3. Christopher Conlon & Julie Holland Mortimer, 2021. "Empirical properties of diversion ratios," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 52(4), pages 693-726, December.
    4. Daniel Greenfield & Bruce Kobayashi & Jeremy Sandford & Christopher Taylor & Nathan Wilson, 2019. "Economics at the FTC: Quantitative Analyses of Two Chemical Manufacturing Mergers," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 55(4), pages 607-623, December.
    5. Froeb, Luke M. & Werden, Gregory J., 1998. "A robust test for consumer welfare enhancing mergers among sellers of a homogeneous product," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 367-369, March.
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