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Why We Need to Measure the Effect of Merger Policy and How to Do It

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Author Info
Dennis W. Carlton

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Abstract

In this article, I explain the inadequacy of our current state of knowledge regarding the effectiveness of antitrust policy towards mergers. I then discuss the types of data that one must collect in order to be able to perform an analysis of the effectiveness of antitrust policy. There are two types of data one requires in order to perform such an analysis. One is data on the relevant market pre and post merger. The second is data on the specific predictions of the government agencies about the market post-merger. A key point of this article is to stress how weak an analysis of only the first type of data is. The frequent call for retrospective studies typically envisions relying on just this type of data, but the limitations on the analysis are not well understood. As I explain below, retrospective studies that ask whether prices went up post merger are surprisingly poor guides for analyzing merger policy. It is only when the second type of data is combined with the first type that a reliable analysis of antitrust policy can be carried out. There is a need both to collect the necessary data and to analyze it correctly.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 14719.

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Date of creation: Feb 2009
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14719

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
C01 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - General - - - Econometrics
K21 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Antitrust Law
L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General
L4 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies
L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices

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This page was last updated on 2009-11-25.

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