Working Paper: NBER ID: w12867
Authors: Louis Kaplow; Carl Shapiro
Abstract: This is a survey of the economic principles that underlie antitrust law and how those principles relate to competition policy. We address four core subject areas: market power, collusion, mergers between competitors, and monopolization. In each area, we select the most relevant portions of current economic knowledge and use that knowledge to critically assess central features of antitrust policy. Our objective is to foster the improvement of legal regimes and also to identify topics where further analytical and empirical exploration would be useful.
Keywords: Antitrust; Market Power; Collusion; Mergers; Monopolization
JEL Codes: K21; L12; L13; L40; L41; L42
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| market power (L11) | antitrust violations (K21) |
| market power (L11) | legality of business practices (K21) |
| collusion (D74) | market prices (P22) |
| collusion (D74) | consumer welfare (D69) |
| economic principles (D46) | market power (L11) |