International aspects of merger policy: a survey

Breinlich, Holger; Nocke, Volker; Schutz, Nicolas

Abstract

This paper surveys the literature on merger policy in open economies. We first adopt a reduced-form approach to derive general insights on the scope for conflict between national antitrust authorities and on the gains from international merger policy coordination. Taking trade costs as given, we use standard oligopoly models to derive conditions on market structure, under which underenforcement or overenforcement of national merger policies can arise. We then study the interactions between merger policy and trade policy, and find that trade liberalization often leads to stricter national merger policies. We conclude by discussing empirical evidence on conflict between antitrust authorities.

Citation

Breinlich, H., Nocke, V., & Schutz, N. (2017). International aspects of merger policy: a survey. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 50, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijindorg.2016.05.001

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 3, 2016
• Online Publication Date: May 11, 2016
• Publication Date: Jan 31, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jun 14, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 14, 2016
• Journal: International Journal of Industrial Organization
• Print ISSN: 0167-7187
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-7986
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 50
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijindorg.2016.05.001
• Keywords: Mergers and acquisitions; merger policy, trade policy, oligopoly, international; trade
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/838158
• Publisher URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167718716300340