Symposium: The application of empirical economics to antitrust editor's note

Antitrust Law Journal

Volumn 74, Issue 2, 2007, Pages 265-270

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EID: 34548083077     PISSN: 00036056     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (15)

1. This symposium was organized by Professor Keith Hylton, and the editors of the Journal thank him for his hard work and assistance.
2. Econometrics is the application of statistical techniques and inferences to observed data in order to evaluate economic theories and their predictions. ABA SECTION OF ANTITRUST LAW, ECONOMETRICS 1 (2005).
3. Keith N. Hylton & Fei Deng, Antitrust Around the World: An Empirical Analysis of the Scope of Competition Laws and Their Effects, 74 ANTITRUST L.J. 271 (2007).
4. Margaret C. Levenstein & Valerie Y. Suslow, The Economic Impact of the U.S. Export Trading Company Act, 74 ANTITRUST L.J. 343 (2007).
5. 15 U.S.C. §§ 4001-4053. As these authors explain, the Export Trading Company Act is a successor to the 1918 Webb-Pomerene Export Trade Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 61-66, which is also analyzed in the article.
6. Joshua D. Wright, Slotting Contracts and Consumer Welfare, 74 ANTITRUST L.J. 439 (2007).
7. Roger D. Blair, James Mak & Carl Bonham, Collusive Duopoly: The Economic Effects of the Aloha and Hawaiian Airlines ' Agreement to Reduce Capacity, 74 ANTITRUST L.J. 409 (2007).
8. Pub. L. No. 107-71, 115 Stat. 597 (codified as amended in scattered sections of 49 U.S.C.) (Nov. 19, 2001).
9. Jerry A. Hausman & J. Gregory Sidak, Evaluating Market Power Using Competitive Benchmark Prices Instead of the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, 74 ANTITRUST L.J. 387 (2007).
10. See, e.g., Pearl Brewing Co. v. Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co., 415 F. Supp. 1122, 1134 (S.D. Tex. 1976) (first reported antitrust case discussing "econometrics").
11. This concept was first described by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore in 1965. His prediction, now popularly known as Moore's Law, states that the number of transistors on a chip of comparable cost doubles about every two years. This observation and the corresponding reality about memory capacity has fueled the worldwide technology revolution. See http://www.intel.com/technology/ mooreslaw/.
12. Notably, both former FTC Chairman Timothy Muris and current Commissioner William Kovacic have advocated for greater use of and reliance upon empirical work. See, e.g., Timothy J. Muris, GTE Sylvania and the Empirical Foundations of Antitrust, 68 ANTITRUST L.J. 899, 902 (2001) ("[T]his essay discusses how empirical evidence (or the lack thereof) has had great impact on antitrust and how emphasis on a 'new empiricism' will serve antitrust well in the future.");
13. William E. Kovacic, Measuring What Matters: The Federal Trade Commission and Investments in Competition Policy Research and Development, 72 ANTITRUST L.J. 861, 861-62 (2005) ("[This article] explains why a performance measurement regime for the FTC or other competition agencies should examine the amount and quality of investments in 'competition policy and research and development."). And while there are examples of how the agencies have tried to make their regulatory decisions more transparent, it is this author's view, however, that good decision making and policy would be furthered by greater access to both the reasoning and evidence of the agencies. The need for greater explanation and support is especially relevant in the merger context where few agency decisions are subject to an independent review by a neutral court.
14. In deciding whether to keep a per se prohibition on either maximum or minimum resale price maintenance, the Court has had to assess whether there is sufficient experience and empirical evidence to condemn such practices without some analysis of actual effects. In State Oil Co. v. Khan, 522 U.S. 3, 15, 18 (1997), the Court found there was a substantial body of empirical evidence that showed otherwise and struck down twentynine years of precedent. At the time this Note was written, the Court's similar review of minimum resale price maintenance in Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc., No. 06-480, remained pending.
15. Transcript of Oral Argument at 8, Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc., No. 06-480 (U.S. Mar. 26, 2007), available at http://www.supremecourtus.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/06-480.pdf.