Asymposium on the Implications of Recent Merger Litigation for Market Definition

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the papers in the Antitrust Bulletin's Market Definition symposium. Four styles of market analysis, each represented by a different merger decision are presented, with two articles on each topic, one in general agreement with the court case and the other providing alternative perspectives for the decision. Simple models of competition suffice for the straightforward investigations; however, careful institutional analysis is necessary to determine if the standard models implicit in the Merger Guidelines can be directly applied in complicated cases. As different economists often interpret data in different ways, antitrust regulators must expect a range of perspectives to be presented in any given case.