MERGER SIMULATION IN COMPETITION POLICY: A SURVEY

Oliver Budzinski and Isabel Ruhmer

Journal of Competition Law and Economics, 2010, vol. 6, issue 2, 277-319

Abstract: Advances in competition economics as well as in computational and empirical methods have offered the scope for the employment of merger simulation models (MSMs) in merger-control procedures during the past almost 15 years. Merger simulation is, nevertheless, still a very young and innovative instrument of antitrust, and, therefore, its “technical” potential is far from being comprehensively exploited, and teething problems in its practical use in the antitrust environment prevail. We provide a classification of state-of-the-art MSMs and review their previous employment in merger cases as well as the problems and limitations currently associated with their use in merger control. In summary, MSMs represent an important and valuable extension of the toolbox of merger policy. However, they do not qualify as a magic bullet and must be combined with other more traditional instruments of competition policy to comprehensively unfold its beneficial effects.

JEL-codes: C15 K21 L40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (44)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Merger Simulation in Competition Policy: A Survey (2009)
Working Paper: Merger Simulation in Competition Policy: A Survey (2008)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:jcomle:v:6:y:2010:i:2:p:277-319.

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