Abstract
This article explores the enforcement of those laws intended to promote competitive markets through the prohibition of certain practices such as price-fixing, welfare-reducing mergers, and monopolization. The discovery and prosecution of violations are examined, including the role of leniency programmes. The determination of penalties is investigated with an assessment of their relationship to optimal penalties. Enforcement policy is found to vary over time and its determinants are reviewed. Finally, the efficacy of enforcement is assessed.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Baker, J. 2003. The case for antitrust enforcement. Journal of Economic Perspectives 17(4): 27–50.
Block, M., and J. Feinstein. 1986. The spillover effect of antitrust enforcement. The Review of Economics and Statistics 68: 122–131.
Block, M., F. Nold, and J. Sidak. 1981. The deterrent effect of antitrust enforcement. Journal of Political Economy 89: 429–445.
Bryant, P., and E. Eckard. 1991. Price fixing: the probability of getting caught. The Review of Economics and Statistics 73: 531–536.
Connor, J. 2004. Effectiveness of antitrust sanctions on modern international cartels. Working paper. Purdue University.
Connor, J., and R. Lande. 2005. How high do cartels raise prices? Implications for optimal cartel fines. Tulane Law Review 80: 513–570.
Crandall, R., and C. Winston. 2003. Does antitrust policy improve consumer welfare? Assessing the evidence. Journal of Economic Perspectives 17(4): 3–26.
Feinberg, R.M. 1984. Strategic and deterrent pricing responses to antitrust investigations. International Journal of Industrial Organization 2: 75–84.
Gallo, J., K. Dau–Schmidt, J. Craycraft, and C. Parker. 2000. Department of Justice antitrust enforcement, 1955–1997: An empirical study. Review of Industrial Organization 17: 75–133.
Ghosal, V. 2004. Regime shifts in antitrust. Working paper. Georgia Institute of Technology.
Ghosal, V., and J. Gallo. 2001. The cyclical behavior of the Department of Justice’s antitrust enforcement activity. International Journal of Industrial Organization 19: 27–54.
Harrington, J. Jr. 2005. Optimal corporate leniency programs. Working paper. Johns Hopkins University.
Harrington, J. Jr. 2006. Detecting cartels. In Handbook of antitrust economics, ed. P. Buccirossi. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Kwoka, J. 1999. Commitment to competition: An assessment of antitrust agency budgets since 1970. Review of Industrial Organization 14: 295–302.
Kwoka, J. 2003. The attack on antitrust policy and consumer welfare: A response to Crandall and Winston. Working paper no. 03–008. Northeastern University.
Lande, R. 1993. Are antitrust ‘treble’ damages really single damages? Ohio State Law Journal 54: 115–174.
Motta, M. 2004. Competition policy: Theory and practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Motta, M., and M. Polo. 2003. Leniency programs and cartel prosecution. International Journal of Industrial Organization 21: 347–379.
Page, W., eds. 1996. Proving antitrust damages. Chicago: American Bar Association.
Polinsky, A., and S. Shavell. 2000. The economic theory of public enforcement of law. Journal of Economic Literature 38: 45–76.
Spagnolo, G. 2003. Divide et Impera: Optimal deterrence mechanisms against cartels and organized crime. Working paper. University of Mannheim.
Sproul, M. 1993. Antitrust and prices. Journal of Political Economy 101: 741–754.
Viscusi, W., J. Harrington Jr., and J. Vernon. 2005. Economics of regulation and antitrust. 4th edn. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Werden, G. 2004. Comment. Journal of Economic Perspectives 18(3): 224–225.
Werden, G., and M. Simon. 1987. Why price fixers should go to prison. Antitrust Bulletin 32: 917–937.
Acknowledgment
I appreciate the comments of Vivek Ghosal.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Harrington, J.E. (2018). Anti-trust Enforcement. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_2804
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_2804
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-95188-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95189-5
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences