A Political Economy Model of Merger Policy in International Markets
30 Pages Posted: 20 Aug 2008
Date Written: June 2008
Abstract
This paper looks at the political economy of merger policy under autarky and in international markets. We assume that merger policy is decided by antitrust authorities (whose objective is to maximize welfare) but can be influenced by governments, which are subject to lobbying by the firms (be they insiders or outsiders to the merger). We argue that political economy distortions may explain some of the recently observed merger policy conflicts between authorities and politicians, as well as between institutions belonging to different countries. We illustrate our analysis with applications motivated by recent merger cases, which have been widely debated in the international press.
Keywords: Antitrust policy, European Union, Lobbying, Mergers
JEL Classification: D72, F59, H11, L40
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
Budget Institutions and Fiscal Performance in Latin America
By Alberto F. Alesina, Ricardo Hausmann, ...
-
Comparative Politics and Public Finance
By Torsten Persson, Gérard Roland, ...
-
Separation of Powers and Accountability: Towards a Formal Approach to Comparative Politics
By Torsten Persson, Gérard Roland, ...
-
The Size and Scope of Government: Comparative Politics with Rational Politicians
By Torsten Persson and Guido Tabellini
-
Endogenous Political Institutions
By Philippe Aghion, Alberto F. Alesina, ...
-
Endogenous Political Institutions
By Philippe Aghion, Alberto F. Alesina, ...
-
Endogenous Political Institutions
By Philippe Aghion, Alberto F. Alesina, ...
-
Budget Institutions and Fiscal Performance in Latin America
By Alberto F. Alesina, Ricardo Hausmann, ...