IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/irlaec/v81y2025ics0144818824000565.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Case law in European merger control

Author

Listed:
  • Callermo, Johan

Abstract

This paper studies references to case law in merger control decisions by the EC Directorate General for Competition (DG COMP) in 1990–2022. I use the full set of references to Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) judgments in DG COMP decisions to examine implementation, industry dynamics and effects of the 2004 merger control reform. New case law is shown to be immediately incorporated into the merger control practice without a learning period, subsequent citations correlate with industry-specific merger activity and the 2004 ECMR reform changed which judgments are frequently cited. European merger control should thus be viewed as a dynamic framework rather than constant in time and across industries. When controlling for quantifiable determinants of case law citations, the ceteris paribus relevance of case law is constant for 20–25 years, implying that judgments do not intrinsically lose relevance over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Callermo, Johan, 2025. "Case law in European merger control," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:irlaec:v:81:y:2025:i:c:s0144818824000565
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irle.2024.106236
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0144818824000565
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.irle.2024.106236?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mats A Bergman & Malcolm B Coate & Anh T V Mai & Shawn W Ulrick, 2019. "Does Merger Policy Converge After The 2004 European Union Reform?," Journal of Competition Law and Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 664-689.
    2. Affeldt, Pauline & Duso, Tomaso & Szücs, Florian, 2021. "25 years of European merger control," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Cohn, Jonathan B. & Liu, Zack & Wardlaw, Malcolm I., 2022. "Count (and count-like) data in finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 529-551.
    4. Federico Mini, 2018. "Fifty is the New Forty: EU Merger Policy Permits Higher Market Shares After the 2004 Reform," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 53(3), pages 535-561, November.
    5. Adam B. Jaffe & Gaétan de Rassenfosse, 2017. "Patent citation data in social science research: Overview and best practices," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 68(6), pages 1360-1374, June.
    6. Harford, Jarrad, 2005. "What drives merger waves?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 529-560, September.
    7. Bergman, Mats A. & Jakobsson, Maria & Razo, Carlos, 2005. "An econometric analysis of the European Commission's merger decisions," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 23(9-10), pages 717-737, December.
    8. Hausman, Jerry & Hall, Bronwyn H & Griliches, Zvi, 1984. "Econometric Models for Count Data with an Application to the Patents-R&D Relationship," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(4), pages 909-938, July.
    9. Sebastian Billows & Sebastian Kohl & Fabien Tarissan, 2021. "Bureaucrats or Ideologues? EU Merger Control as Market‐centred Integration," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(4), pages 762-781, July.
    10. Michael Gort, 1969. "An Economic Disturbance Theory of Mergers," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 83(4), pages 624-642.
    11. Bernhardt, Lea & Dewenter, Ralf, 2022. "The Impact of the More Economic Approach on EU Merger Decisions," Working Paper 195/2021, Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg.
    12. Jeffry Netter & Mike Stegemoller & M. Babajide Wintoki, 2011. "Implications of Data Screens on Merger and Acquisition Analysis: A Large Sample Study of Mergers and Acquisitions from 1992 to 2009," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(7), pages 2316-2357.
    13. Borja Martinez Fernández & Iraj Hashi & Marc Jegers, 2008. "The Implementation Of The European Commission'S Merger Regulation 2004: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Competition Law and Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(3), pages 791-809.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pablo Moran, 2017. "Information Revelation in Merger Waves," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 6(2), pages 174-233.
    2. Ovtchinnikov, Alexei V., 2013. "Merger waves following industry deregulation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 51-76.
    3. Affeldt, Pauline & Duso, Tomaso & Szücs, Florian, 2021. "25 years of European merger control," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    4. Xu, Emma Qianying, 2017. "Cross-border merger waves," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 207-231.
    5. Meng, Bo & Vijh, Anand M., 2021. "Stock merger activity and industry performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    6. Huang, Wenxuan & Xu, Weidong & Li, Donghui & Zhao, Ling & Yang, Shijie, 2024. "Does market misvaluation drive cross-border M&As?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    7. Röhrer, Fabio E.G. & Mateane, Lebogang & Proaño, Christian R., 2025. "The Perverse Valuation Effect on Mergers and Acquisitions in Europe," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    8. Tomaso Duso & Klaus Gugler & Florian Szücs, 2013. "An Empirical Assessment of the 2004 EU Merger Policy Reform," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 123(11), pages 596-619, November.
    9. Samuel D. Barrows & Magnus Blomkvist & Nebojsa Dimic & Milos Vulanovic, 2023. "Oil Price Uncertainty and M&A Activity," The Energy Journal, , vol. 44(4), pages 1-20, July.
    10. Song, Moon H. & Walkling, Ralph A., 2005. "Anticipation, Acquisitions and Bidder Returns," Working Paper Series 2005-11, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    11. Erel, Isil & Jang, Yeejin & Minton, Bernadette A. & Weisbach, Michael S., 2021. "Corporate Liquidity, Acquisitions, and Macroeconomic Conditions," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(2), pages 443-474, March.
    12. Pu Liu & Yingying Shao, 2022. "Innovation and new business formation: the role of innovative large firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 691-720, August.
    13. Basnet, Anup & Davis, Frederick & Walker, Thomas & Zhao, Kun, 2021. "The effect of securities class action lawsuits on mergers and acquisitions," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    14. Sven Heim & Kai Hüschelrath & Ulrich Laitenberger, 2016. "The Duration of the EC Merger Control Process: Determinants and the Impact of the 2004 Merger Regulation Reform," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(1), pages 37-62, February.
    15. Fuad, Mohammad & Gaur, Ajai S., 2019. "Merger waves, entry-timing, and cross-border acquisition completion: A frictional lens perspective," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 107-118.
    16. Reddy, Kotapati Srinivasa, 2015. "Extant Reviews on Entry-mode/Internationalization, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Diversification: Understanding Theories and Establishing Interdisciplinary Research," MPRA Paper 63744, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2015.
    17. Pierre Lasserre & Moez Souissi, 2007. "It Takes Two to Tango. La fusion : exercice de deux options réelles," Économie et Prévision, Programme National Persée, vol. 178(2), pages 51-65.
    18. Renneboog, Luc & Vansteenkiste, Cara, 2019. "Failure and success in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 650-699.
    19. An, Suwei, 2023. "Essays on incentive contracts, M&As, and firm risk," Other publications TiSEM dd97d2f5-1c9d-47c5-ba62-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    20. Hsu, Kuang-Chung & Wright, Michael & Zhu, Zhen, 2017. "What motivates merger and acquisition activities in the upstream oil & gas sectors in the U.S.?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 240-250.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    European Union; Mergers; Jurisprudence; Case law; Text analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F55 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Institutional Arrangements
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • K21 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Antitrust Law
    • L40 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:irlaec:v:81:y:2025:i:c:s0144818824000565. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/irle .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.