The Pros and Cons of Merger Control

Abstract

This book commemorates the 10th Anniversary of the Swedish Competition Authority and consists of four individual contributions from independent scholars and professionals with expertise in the economics of merger control. Neven and Roller evaluate decisions made by the European Commission for a sample of cases considered in the last ten years in light of the stock market anticipations of the deals' anti-competitive consequences. A main finding is that the Commission has done fairly well in clearing pro-competitive mergers, but not as well in prohibiting anti-competitive ones. The discrepancy between decisions and the stock market's anticipations may be associated with the scope of the concept of dominance, political influence, and possible shortcomings in the treatment of efficiencies. The evidence supports the view that changes in the treatment of efficiencies by the Commission as well as procedural and institutional reforms are needed. Since phase I discrepancies are more common, increasing the time limits, or, alternatively opening phase II investigations more frequently may well be justified. Kai-Uwe Kuhn examines the analysis of collective dominance following the judgment by the Court of First Instance on the Airtours case. Collective dominance may be simple in theory, but it is complex to verify in practice. Several criticisms are raised against the implementation of the concept by the Commission. A key weakness is a lack of solid economic analysis. The Airtours judgment may have effectively put a lid on Pandora's box of non-essential arguments previously advanced to support the creation of collective dominance in some cases. Alternative instruments, based mainly on the tools of economic theory, may prove better suited for identifying such behaviour. Gregory Werden and Luke Froeb advocate the use of formal economic models calibrated to fit the industry under review. Calibrated economic models provide quantitative tools for market delineation and direct estimation of the effects of proposed mergers on prices, quantities, and welfare. Simulating mergers often offers opportunities for understanding what happens when two companies become one better than those with traditional structural analysis. In particular, the technique is well suited for assessing the impact on competition of mergers involving differentiated consumer products. Henrik Horn and Johan Stennek explore the debate on whether firms in small countries are at a disadvantage because of EU merger control. Markets are often national, making it harder for firms in small countries to merge simply because they would very soon reach critical market shares, although they would still be relatively small in absolute size. It may therefore be beneficial for a small country to allow mergers that potentially hurt domestic consumers, since they have the advantage of making the companies large enough to be internationally competitive. A counter argument is that sacrificing consumer interests is not necessary since the companies can engage in cross-border mergers instead.