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Competition

Economic analysis in merger investigations

 

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 9 December 2020  Zoom meeting

2020 OECD GLOBAL FORUM ON COMPETITION EXPLORED ECONOMIC ANALYSIS IN MERGER INVESTIGATIONS 

Economic analysis is a fundamental part of merger control. It underpins the theories of harm that guide merger reviews, and it provides the tools to interpret evidence when assessing these theories. Economic expertise can be of value at each stage of a merger investigation, from evidence gathering to the assessment of remedies.

The quantitative economic techniques used by competition authorities to analyse mergers range from diversion ratios, to pricing pressure indices, to merger simulations, among others. Several practical considerations and questions arise when using economic analysis in merger control, including: how to integrate economists into case handler teams, whether to use external expertise, and how to ensure economic analysis is easily comprehensible by decision-makers and courts.

In December 2020, the OECD Global Forum on Competition discussed after the expert panel, in breakout sessions organised in two time periods to enable as many delegates to participate as possible. For each time period, there was three breakout groups focusing on either:

  • Surveys and other data gathering techniques
  • Quantitative analysis
  • The role of economists in merger teams and qualitative evidence review

 

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» Back to the Global Forum website

 

Speakers 
Herbert FUNG Bio 
Senior Director (Business and Economics), Competition and Consumer Commission (CCCS), Singapore
 
Guilherme MENDES RESENDE Bio 
Chief Economist, CADE, Brazil
 
Pierre RÉGIBEAU Bio 
Chief Competition Economist, European Commission
 
Oren RIGBI Bio 
Chief Economist, Israel Competition Authority


Jill WALKER 
Bio 
Member of the Australian Competition Tribunal and former Commissioner at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the New Zealand Commerce Commission (NZCC) 

GFC blog series

This blog series is based on the 2020 Global Forum on Competition agenda and highlights some of the key issues that each session will address.

#1 How can competition law tackle misconduct in digital markets?

#2 Can market studies be a more effective tool for tackling emerging competition issues?

#3 Are digital markets bringing new challenges in abuse of dominance cases?

#4 Economising economic analysis for mergers in smaller markets

#5 How does the UK use market studies to tackle emerging competition issues?

#6 How is Mexico using market studies to tackle emerging competition issues?

#7 Economics in merger control: an invaluable tool at every step of the process

More coming!

Documents

OECD Background note

Call for contributions

Executive summary with key findings

Summary of the discussion

Summary of contributions

Algeria (in French)

Australia

Belgium

Brazil 

Canada 

Colombia

Denmark 

Hungary 

India 

Indonesia 

Japan

Kenya

Korea

Latvia 

Lithuania 

Mexico (COFECE & IFT)

Norway 

Portugal

Russian Federation

Singapore 

Spain 

Sweden

Chinese Taipei

Turkey

Ukraine

United Kingdom

United States

BIAC 

Videos

Jill Walker shares her insights about the economics of merger analysis

  

Herbert Fung on how smaller competition agencies can make best use of their economics expertise

Guilherme Mendes Resende explains how Brazil's CADE makes use of economic expertise in merger review

Oren Rigbi describes how the Israeli Competition Authority uses economic techniques for geographic market definition

Key takeaways from the break-out sessions' chairs

Break-out Sessions
 

 

 

             
 
   
Related links

» Conglomerate Effects of Mergers, OECD Policy Roundtables 2020

» Vertical mergers in the technology, media and telecom sector, OECD Policy Roundtables 2019

» Merger Control in Dynamic Markets, OECD Global Forum on Competition 2019

» Rethinking the use of traditional antitrust enforcement tools in multi-sided markets, OECD Policy Roundtables 2018

» Non-price effects of mergers, OECD Policy Roundtables 2018

» The Role and Measurement of Quality in Competition Analysis, OECD Policy Roundtables 2013

» Economic Evidence in Merger Analysis, OECD Policy Roundtables 2011

» OECD Policy Roundtables on mergers

» Global Forum website

» OECD Competition Youtube channel

» Full list of Competition Policy Roundtables

 

Related Documents