Trade Policy and Antitrust: Do Consumers Matter to Legislators?

Trade Openness and Antitrust Law*

Abstract. Openness to international trade and adopting stringent antitrust laws are both ways that countries can curb anticompetitive behavior. But scholars have long debated the relationship between these two tools. Some have argued that greater trade openness makes antitrust unnecessary, while others have argued that antitrust laws are still needed to realize the benefits of trade liberalizat...

Business Strategy and Antitrust Policy

Business strategy is fundamentally about firm decision-making. Antitrust policy and enforcement, in turn, evaluate the decisions made by firms and the market outcomes that result. To the extent that firms’ decisions will be scrutinized ex post, managers must understand how antitrust concerns might constrain their actions and, thus, suggest alternative optimal decisions. Owing to this importance...

Antitrust Policy in Aftermarkets

Many recent antitrust cases concern aftermarkets: markets for goods or services used together with durable equipment but purchased after the consumer has invested in the equipment. Examples include computer parts, software upgrades, repair manuals, and training. Durable goods manufacturers are often the dominant providers of aftermarket products. The cases involve a variety of alleged anticompe...

Some Thoughts on "Antitrust Policy" and the Antitrust Community

Experimental Methods and Antitrust Policy

Antitrust policy has evolved substantially in the last two decades. Although the incorporation of new empirical methods has played a critical role in this evolutionary process, with only a few exceptions experimental tools have not been employed. This omission is unfortunate, because appropriately constructed experiments can uniquely provide important insights. This paper summarizes some of our...