Towards an effective merger review policy: a defence of rebuttable structural presumptions
File(s)
Author(s)
Lancieri, F
Valletti, T
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We discuss the design of an effective merger review policy for the twenty-first century. We argue that the practice of the past decades is inadequate and propose a move towards much stronger rebuttable structural presumptions. These presumptions establish that all mergers above certain thresholds are illegal unless the merging parties can prove that merger-specific efficiencies will be shared with consumers and yield tangible welfare gains. These presumptions are grounded on solid economics and also acknowledge the real-world limitations in enforcement resources and information asymmetries between companies and regulators. We outline how to establish such presumptions in practice, defending the implementation of an ex ante system that selects in advance (rather than per transaction) which companies and markets are subject to the presumption. Finally, we outline which merger-related efficiencies can rebut the presumption.
Date Issued
2024-12-01
Date Acceptance
2024-10-25
Citation
Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 2024, 40 (4), pp.763-775
ISSN
0266-903X
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Start Page
763
End Page
775
Journal / Book Title
Oxford Review of Economic Policy
Volume
40
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Oxford Review of Economic Policy Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
10.1093/oxrep/grae049
Subjects
antitrust
merger review
structural presumption
resource imbalances
ex ante approach K22
L41
G34
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2025-01-30