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Optimal Fines in the Era of Whistleblowers

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Author Info
Buccirossi, Paolo
Spagnolo, Giancarlo

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Abstract

We review current methods for calculating fines against cartels in the US and EU, and simulate their deterrence effects under different assumptions on the legal and economic environment. It is likely that European fines have not had significant deterrence effects before leniency programs were introduced. Previous simulations of the effects of fines ignore the different type of deterrence that leniency programs bring about, and, therefore, grossly overstate the minimum fine likely to have deterrence effects. With schemes that reward whistleblowers, the minimum fine with deterrence effects falls to extremely low levels (below 10% of the optimal "Beckerian" fine). Strategic judgement-proofness can and should be prevented by suitable regulation or extended liability. Criminal sanctions, in the form of imprisonment, certainly bring benefits (and costs) in terms of cartel deterrence, but the firms’ limited ability to pay does not appear any longer such a strong argument for their introduction.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 5465.

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Date of creation: Jan 2006
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5465

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Related research
Keywords: amnesty; antitrust; cartels; collusion; corporate crime; debt; deterrence; extended liability; fines; immunity; imprisonment; judgement proofness; law enforcement; leniency; optimal fines; optimal liability; optimal sanctions; organized crime; political economy; rewards; sunk cost bias; whistleblowers;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure and Pricing - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
D78 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Positive Analysis of Policy-Making and Implementation
G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation
K21 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Antitrust Law
K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices

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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. Bigoni, Maria & Fridolfsson, Sven-Olof & Le Coq, Chloe & Spagnolo, Giancarlo, 2008. "Fines, Leniency, Rewards and Organized Crime: Evidence from Antitrust Experiments," Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 698, Stockholm School of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. Ghosal, Vivek, 2006. "Discovering Cartels: Dynamic Interrelationships between Civil and Criminal Antitrust Investigations," MPRA Paper 5499, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  3. Christian Growitsch & Nicole Nulsch & Margarethe Rammerstorfer, 2008. "Preventing Innovative Cooperations: The Legal Exemptions Unintended Side Effect," IWH Discussion Papers 6-08, Halle Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
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