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Revising The Horizontal Merger Guidelines

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  • Dennis W. Carlton

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are currently in the process of revising their Horizontal Merger Guidelines. I explain that if a revision is to occur, then there are certain parts of the Guidelines that are most in need of revision, including the sections on unilateral and coordinated effects, committed and uncommitted entry, numerical concentration thresholds for safe harbors, and fixed costs. I also explain what should not become part of any new Guidelines, such as replacing the market definition/market concentration starting point with a competitive effects framework such as “upward pricing pressure.” The proposed Guidelines were published in April 2010. I present my reactions to the proposed Guidelines and discuss several caveats that courts, foreign antitrust agencies, and the business community should be aware of as they try to interpret what the proposed Guidelines suggest about appropriate antitrust policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Dennis W. Carlton, 2010. "Revising The Horizontal Merger Guidelines," Journal of Competition Law and Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 6(3), pages 619-652.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jcomle:v:6:y:2010:i:3:p:619-652.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/joclec/nhq007
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Christopher Conlon & Julie Holland Mortimer, 2021. "Empirical properties of diversion ratios," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 52(4), pages 693-726, December.
    2. Dennis W. Carlton & Mark A. Israel, 2021. "Effects of the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines on Merger Review: Based on Ten Years of Practical Experience," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 58(1), pages 213-234, February.
    3. Rigoberto Lopez & Elena Lopez & Carmen Lirón-España, 2014. "Who Benefits from Industrial Concentration? Evidence from U.S. Manufacturing," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 303-317, September.
    4. Robert Willig, 2011. "Unilateral Competitive Effects of Mergers: Upward Pricing Pressure, Product Quality, and Other Extensions," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 39(1), pages 19-38, August.
    5. John Lopatka, 2011. "Market Definition?," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 39(1), pages 69-93, August.
    6. Judd Stone & Joshua Wright, 2011. "The Sound of One Hand Clapping: The 2010 Merger Guidelines and the Challenge of Judicial Adoption," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 39(1), pages 145-158, August.
    7. Baltzopoulos, Apostolos & Kim, Jaewon & Mandorff, Martin, 2015. "UPP Analysis in Five Recent Merger Cases," Konkurrensverket Working Paper Series in Law and Economics 2015:3, Konkurrensverket (Swedish Competition Authority).
    8. Louis Kaplow, 2011. "Market Definition and the Merger Guidelines," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 39(1), pages 107-125, August.
    9. Herbert Hovenkamp, 2011. "Harm to Competition Under the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 39(1), pages 3-18, August.
    10. Wang, X. Henry & Zhao, Jingang, 2022. "Merger effects in asymmetric and differentiated Bertrand oligopolies," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 37-49.
    11. Dzmitry Bartalevich, 2016. "The Influence of the Chicago School on the Commission's Guidelines, Notices and Block Exemption Regulations in EU Competition Policy," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 267-283, March.
    12. Alexei Alexandrov, 2015. "Anti-Competitive Interconnection: the effects of the elasticity of consumers' expectations and the shape of the network effects function," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(1), pages 74-99, March.
    13. Christopher T. Conlon & Julie Holland Mortimer, 2013. "An Experimental Approach to Merger Evaluation," NBER Working Papers 19703, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    L1; L4; K21;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance
    • L4 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies
    • K21 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Antitrust Law

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