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The Political Economy of European Merger Control: Evidence using Stock Market Data

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Author Info
Tomaso Duso
Damien J. Neven
Lars-Hendrik Röller

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Abstract

The objective of this paper is to investigate the determinants of European Union (EU) merger control decisions. We consider a sample of 167 EU mergers between 1990 and 2002 and evaluate their competitive consequences by the reaction of the stock market price of competitors to the merging firms. We then account for the discrepancies between the actual and optimal decisions as indicated by the stock market in terms of the political economy surrounding the cases. Our results suggest that the commission’s decisions cannot be solely accounted for as protecting consumer surplus. The institutional and political environment does matter. As far as influence is concerned, however, our data suggest that the commission’s decisions are not sensitive to firms’ interests. Instead, the evidence suggests that other factors—such as market definition and procedural aspects, as well as country and industry effects—do play a significant role.

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File URL: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/resolve?id=doi:10.1086/519812
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Article provided by University of Chicago Press in its journal The Journal of Law and Economics.

Volume (Year): 50 (2007)
Issue (Month): ()
Pages: 455-489
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Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlawec:v:50:y:2007:p:455-489

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Schwert, G. William, 1996. "Markup pricing in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 153-192, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Lars-Hendrik Röller & Johan Stennek & Frank Verboven, 2000. "Efficiency Gains from Mergers," CIG Working Papers FS IV 00-09, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG). [Downloadable!]
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  3. Fridolfsson, Sven-Olof & Stennek, Johan, 2000. "Why Event Studies Do Not Detect Anti-Competitive Mergers," Working Paper Series 542, Research Institute of Industrial Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  4. Stillman, Robert, 1983. "Examining antitrust policy towards horizontal mergers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-4), pages 225-240, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Neven, Damien J., 2001. "How should "protection" be evaluated in Article III GATT disputes?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 421-444, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Malcolm B. Coate, 2002. "A Test of Political Control of the Bureaucracy: The Case of Mergers," Economics and Politics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 14(1), pages 1-18. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Khemani, R S & Shapiro, Daniel M, 1993. "An Empirical Analysis of Canadian Merger Policy," Journal of Industrial Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(2), pages 161-77, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Kaplan, Steven N & Weisbach, Michael S, 1992. " The Success of Acquisitions: Evidence from Divestitures," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(1), pages 107-38, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Neven, Damien J & Röller, Lars-Hendrik, 2000. "Consumer Surplus vs. Welfare Standard in a Political Economy Model of Merger Control," CEPR Discussion Papers 2620, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Tomaso Duso & Klaus Gugler & Burcin Yurtoglu, 2006. "EU Merger Remedies: A Preliminary Empirical Assessment," Discussion Papers 81, SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems, Free University of Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Bonn, University of Mannheim, University of Munich. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Joseph Clougherty & Tomaso Duso, 2008. "The impact of horizontal mergers on rivals: Gains to being left outside a merger," Discussion Papers 239, SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems, Free University of Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Bonn, University of Mannheim, University of Munich. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Gregory Werden, 2008. "Assessing the Effects of Antitrust Enforcement in the United States," De Economist, Springer, vol. 156(4), pages 433-451, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Elena Carletti & Philipp Hartmann & Steven Ongena, 2007. "The economic impact of merger control - what is special about banking?," Working Paper Series 786, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
  5. Tomaso Duso & Klaus Gugler & Burçin Yurtoglu, 2006. "How Effective is European Merger Control?," CIG Working Papers SP II 2006-12, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG). [Downloadable!]
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    • Tomaso Duso & Klaus Gugler & Burcin Yurtoglu, 2006. "How Effective is European Merger Control?," Discussion Papers 153, SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems, Free University of Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Bonn, University of Mannheim, University of Munich. [Downloadable!]
  6. Oliver Budzinski & Jürgen-Peter Kretschmer, 2009. "Implications of Unprofitable Horizontal Mergers: A Positive External Effect does not Suffice to Clear a Merger!," Working Papers 84/09, University of Southern Denmark, Department of Environmental and Business Economics. [Downloadable!]
  7. Nihat Aktas & Eric Bodt & Richard Roll, 2004. "European M&A Regulation is Protectionist," University of California at Los Angeles, Anderson Graduate School of Management 1252, Anderson Graduate School of Management, UCLA. [Downloadable!]
  8. Schinkel, M.P. & Tuinstra, J., 2004. "Imperfect Competition Law Enforcement," CeNDEF Working Papers 04-07, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Center for Nonlinear Dynamics in Economics and Finance. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Barros, Pedro Pita & Clougherty, Joseph A & Seldeslachts, Jo, 2007. "Remedy for Now but Prohibit for Tomorrow: The Deterrence Effects of Merger Policy Tools," CEPR Discussion Papers 6437, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Bruce Lyons, 2008. "An Economic Assessment of EC Merger Control: 1957–2007," Working Papers 08-17, Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia. [Downloadable!]
  11. Motta, Massimo & Ruta, Michele, 2008. "A Political Economy Model of Merger Policy in International Markets," CEPR Discussion Papers 6894, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Lindqvist, Tobias, 2005. "Acquisiton Strategies: Empirical Evidence of Outsider-Toeholds," Working Paper Series 634, Research Institute of Industrial Economics. [Downloadable!]
  13. Langus, Gregor & Motta, Massimo, 2007. "The Effect of EU Antitrust Investigations and Fines on a Firm’s Valuation," CEPR Discussion Papers 6176, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Patrice Bougette & Stéphane Turolla, 2006. "Merger Remedies at the European Commission: A Multinomial Logit Analysis," Working Papers 06-08, LAMETA, Universtiy of Montpellier, revised Feb 2008. [Downloadable!]
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  15. Oliver Budzinski & Jürgen-Peter Kretschmer, 2007. "Implications of Unprofitable Horizontal Mergers: A Re-Interpretation of the Farrell-Shapiro-Framework," Marburg Working Papers on Economics 200714, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung). [Downloadable!]
  16. Aldo Gonzalez, 2004. "Antitrust Enforcement and the Design of Disclosure Rules. An Application to Merger Control," Econometric Society 2004 Latin American Meetings 199, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
  17. Ornaghi, Carmine, . "Mergers and Innovation: The Case of the Pharmaceutical Industry," Discussion Paper Series In Economics And Econometrics 0605, Economics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton. [Downloadable!]
  18. Damien Neven & Hans Zenger, 2008. "Ex Post Evaluation of Enforcement: A Principal-Agent Perspective," De Economist, Springer, vol. 156(4), pages 477-490, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Ghosal, Vivek, 2007. "Regime Shift in Antitrust," MPRA Paper 5460, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  20. Paolo Buccirossi & Lorenzo Ciari & Tomaso Duso & Sven-Olof Fridolfsson & Giancarlo Spagnolo & Cristiana Vitale, 2008. "A Short Overview of a Methodology for the Ex-Post Review of Merger Control Decisions," De Economist, Springer, vol. 156(4), pages 453-475, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Jan Loecker & Jozef Konings & Patrick Cayseele, 2008. "Merger Review: How Much of Industry is Affected in an International Perspective?," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-19, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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