A Comparison of the HHI and the Procurement-Based Framework in Merger Review
by Kenneth Gong Abstract The Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), a measure of market concentration, plays a critical role in the U.S. Merger Guidelines. It is used as a threshold metric that marks certain mergers as potentially harmful to consumers. However, the microfoundations for the HHI are grounded in the Cournot oligopoly model, which may not be […]
Beyond the But-For World: Weak-necessity causal reasoning for model-based counterfactuals in law and economics
by Lilia Qian Abstract Under current standards for scientific evidence defined under Daubert, antitrust models are frequently excluded from legal consideration, but not always for reasons that make them genuinely unreliable. This paper clarifies why antitrust models face difficulties when subjected to methodological scrutiny: the employment of model-based counterfactual arguments under an epistemically defective ‘but-for’ […]
What Affects Post-Merger Innovation Outcomes? An Empirical Study of R&D Intensity in High Technology Transactions Among U.S. Firms
by Neha Karna Abstract High levels of global M&A activity have characterized the past decade, making the policy debate over the impact of mergers on innovation even more pertinent. Innovation is a significant driver of economic growth and therefore a negative effect of mergers on innovation outcomes may have detrimental consequences. Nevertheless, the existing literature […]
Municipal and Cooperative Internet on Broadband Entry and Competition
by Tianjiu Zuo Abstract The broadband market is unique for municipal (government-owned) and cooperative (member-owned) competitors. Their participation, however, raises conflict of interest concerns. Both municipalities and cooperatives are often owners of utility poles that are an essential input for broadband deployment. Internet service providers (ISPs) must lease pole attachment space. While most pole attachment […]
Pricing and Pack Size Brand, Quantity, and Cost Considerations in Pricing Multipacks of Toothpaste
By Stephanie Wiehe The US market for toothpaste, like many other goods, is shifting towards selling in bulk. Multipacks of toothpaste require quantity discounts to incentivize consumers, making buying in bulk a great deal for the savings-minded toothpaste-shopper. It is more difficult to understand, however, producers’ willingness to sell multipacks of toothpaste, when margins are […]
Investigating a Case of Alleged Collusion in Michigan Public Oil and Gas Lease Auctions
By Lucas Do The state of Michigan administers oil and gas lease auctions semiannually through the Department of Natural Resources. In June 2012, the international news outlet Reuters published allegations of bid-rigging following the Department’s May 2010 auction. This paper empirically investigates the validity of Reuters’ allegations by analyzing auction bid sheets from 2008 to […]
The Determination of Newspaper Slant in Small Markets
By Jordyn Gracey This paper takes the assertion, made by Gentzkow et al., that newspaper slant is primarily determined by slant as given. Both that paper and this one use Hotelling as a foundation. However, this paper considers what happens when the distribution of ideological preferences differs at national and county levels. This paper controls […]
The Impact of Spectrum Quality on Wireless Telecom Competition
By Stephen Zhu This paper explores the metrics used by FCC and others for evaluating competition between wireless telecom carriers. It focuses on the impact of wireless spectrum quality on the results of FCC spectrum auctions and the estimated market shares of wireless carriers. In this case, it is revealed that quality is affected by […]
