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Scale Economies and Synergies in Horizontal Merger Analysis

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  • Farrell, Joseph
  • Shapiro, Carl

Abstract

Three years ago, the Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission revised their Horizontal Merger Guidelines to articulate in greater detail how they would treat claims of efficiencies associated with horizontal mergers: claims that are frequently made, as for instance in the recently proposed merger between Heinz and Beech-Nut in the market for baby food. While these revisions to the Guidelines have a solid economic basis, they leave open many questions, both in theory and in practice. In this essay, we evaluate some aspects of the treatment of efficiencies, based on three years of enforcement experience under the revised Guidelines, including several litigated mergers, and based on economic principles drawn from oligopoly theory regarding cost savings, competition, and consumer welfare.

Suggested Citation

  • Farrell, Joseph & Shapiro, Carl, 2000. "Scale Economies and Synergies in Horizontal Merger Analysis," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt96z174x1, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdl:econwp:qt96z174x1
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    Cited by:

    1. Brianna Alderman & Roger Blair & Javier Donna, 2025. "The Microsoft Acquisition of Activision: Neither Horizontal nor Vertical," Working Papers 359, Red Nacional de Investigadores en Economía (RedNIE).
    2. Brunner, Philipp & Letina, Igor & Schmutzler, Armin, 2024. "Research joint ventures: The role of financial constraints," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    3. Xianna Hong & Qiuhua Chen, 2022. "Research on the Impact of Merges and Acquisition Type on the Performance of Listed Agricultural Enterprises—An Analysis of Mediator Effect Based on R&D Input," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-23, February.
    4. D. Dragone & L. Lambertini & A. Mantovani, 2006. "Horizontal Mergers with Scale Economies," Working Papers 571, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    5. Javier D. Donna & Pedro Pereira, 2024. "Structural Presumptions for Non-horizontal Mergers in the 2023 Merger Guidelines: A Primer and a Path Forward," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 65(1), pages 303-345, August.
    6. Bougette, Patrice, 2010. "Preventing merger unilateral effects: A Nash-Cournot approach to asset divestitures," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 162-174, September.
    7. Vitor Costa, 2023. "Local Labor Market Effects of Mergers and Acquisitions in Developing Countries: Evidence from Brazil," Papers 2306.08797, arXiv.org.
    8. Ma, Wenliang & Wang, Qiang & Yang, Hangjun & Zhang, Yahua, 2020. "Evaluating the price effects of two airline mergers in China," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    9. D. Dragone & L. Lambertini & A. Mantovani, 2007. "Antitrust Guidelines: A Simple Operational Method for Evaluating Horizontal Mergers," Working Papers 591, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.

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