The impact of the 2002 reform of the EU leniency program on cartel outcomes

Annabelle Jochem, Pierpaolo Parrotta and Giacomo Valletta

International Journal of Industrial Organization, 2020, vol. 71, issue C

Abstract: The objective of this study is to empirically assess whether the 2002 reform of the EU leniency program, which brought the EU leniency policy much closer to the US policy, has increased the European Commission’s capability to destabilize cartels while making prosecution more efficient. More specifically, relying on a difference-in-difference approach, we estimate the impact of the 2002 reform on cartel duration, fines before and after applying leniency reductions and duration of investigation. We find that the 2002 reform decreased cartel duration by about 87 percent, but did not significantly affect the other outcome variables. Thus, our findings seem to suggest that the 2002 reform has improved the cartel-destabilizing effect of the EU leniency program, without enhancing however its effectiveness in prosecuting cartels.

Keywords: Leniency policy; Cartels; Detection; Deterrence; Prosecution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C21 D43 K21 L41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Working Paper: The impact of the 2002 reform of the EU leniency program on cartel outcomes (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:indorg:v:71:y:2020:i:c:s0167718720300631

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijindorg.2020.102640

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