An Empirical Assessment of the 2004 EU Merger Policy Reform

Duso, Tomaso; Gugler, Klaus Peter; Szücs, Florian

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1721412

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An Empirical Assessment of the 2004 EU Merger Policy Reform

WZB Discussion Paper SP II 2010-16

36 Pages Posted: 8 Dec 2010 Last revised: 31 Jul 2013

See all articles by Tomaso Duso

Tomaso Duso

German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin); TU Berlin- Faculty of Economics and Management - Empirical Industrial Organization; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Klaus Peter Gugler

Vienna University of Economics and Business; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Florian Szücs

Vienna University of Economics and Business

Date Written: July 2013

Abstract

We evaluate the economic impact of the change in European merger legislation in 2004 and propose a general framework focusing on four different policy dimensions: 1) predictability, 2) decision errors, 3) reversion of anti-competitive rents, and 4) deterrence. We find that after the reform the predictability and the accuracy of decisions have improved. Yet, the policy shift away from prohibitions, which entail both an immediate and a deterrent effect, does not seem to be well-grounded.

Keywords: merger control, regulatory reform, EU Commission, event-study

JEL Classification: L4, K21, C13, D78

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Duso, Tomaso and Gugler, Klaus Peter and Szücs, Florian, An Empirical Assessment of the 2004 EU Merger Policy Reform (July 2013). WZB Discussion Paper SP II 2010-16, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1721412 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1721412