Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-14-2020
Abstract
In this short article, which is part of a RIO Symposium on the Tenth Anniversary of the 2010 Merger Guidelines, we suggest a number of improvements that should be considered in the next revision of the Guidelines. Our analysis is based on the observation that horizontal merger policy has suffered from under-enforcement. We provide evidence that the enforcement agencies face significant resource constraints which require a triage process that inevitably leads to under-enforcement. In light of merger law placing greater weight on avoiding false negatives and under-deterrence than false positive and over-deterrence, the article suggests a number of ways in which the under-enforcement bias might be corrected, including (among others) rolling back the increase in the HHI “red zone” thresholds; mandating anticompetitive presumptions for mergers with high GUPPIs, acquisitions of mavericks, and acquisitions by dominant firms; closer analysis of common ownership by financial funds; and expanded analysis of potential competition mergers.
Publication Citation
Review of Industrial Organization (forthcoming).
Scholarly Commons Citation
Salop, Steven C. and Morton, Fiona Scott, "The 2010 HMGs Ten Years Later: Where Do We Go From Here?" (2020). Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works. 2285.
https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/2285