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Stealth Consolidation: Evidence from an Amendment to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act

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  • Thomas G. Wollmann

Abstract

Prospective merger review is the most frequent application of antitrust law. It exempts transactions on the basis of size, though small deals can have large anticompetitive effects in segmented industries. I examine its impact on antitrust enforcement and merger activity in the context of an abrupt increase in the US exemption threshold. I find that among newly-exempt deals, antitrust investigations fall to almost zero while mergers between competitors rise sharply. Effectively all of the rise reflects an endogenous response of firms to reduced premerger scrutiny, consistent with large deterrent effects of antitrust enforcement.

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  • Thomas G. Wollmann, 2019. "Stealth Consolidation: Evidence from an Amendment to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 77-94, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aerins:v:1:y:2019:i:1:p:77-94
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20180137
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    1. David Autor & David Dorn & Lawrence F Katz & Christina Patterson & John Van Reenen, 2020. "The Fall of the Labor Share and the Rise of Superstar Firms [“Automation and New Tasks: How Technology Displaces and Reinstates Labor”]," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(2), pages 645-709.
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    Cited by:

    1. Gabor Koltay & Rossitza Kotzeva & Gaëtan Lelièvre & Dimitrios Magos & Joanna Piechucka & Pierre Régibeau & Egle Skliaustyte, 2023. "Recent Developments at DG Competition: 2022/2023," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 63(4), pages 545-577, December.
    2. João Granja & Nuno Paixao, 2021. "Market Concentration and Uniform Pricing: Evidence from Bank Mergers," Staff Working Papers 21-9, Bank of Canada.
    3. Axel Gautier & Joe Lamesch, 2020. "Mergers in the Digital Economy," CESifo Working Paper Series 8056, CESifo.
    4. Johannes Boehm & Jan Sonntag, 2023. "Vertical Integration and Foreclosure: Evidence from Production Network Data," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(1), pages 141-161, January.
    5. Ralph B. Siebert, 2022. "What Determines Heterogeneous Merger Effects on Competitive Outcomes?," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(1), pages 217-256, March.
    6. Juan Ortner & Sylvain Chassang & Jun Nakabayashi & Kei Kawai, 2022. "Screening Adaptive Cartels," Working Papers 2022-23, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    7. Joel Stiebale & Florian Szücs, 2022. "Mergers and market power: evidence from rivals' responses in European markets," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 53(4), pages 678-702, December.
    8. Mihir N. Mehta & Suraj Srinivasan & Wanli Zhao, 2020. "The Politics of M&A Antitrust," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 5-53, March.
    9. Carl Shapiro, 2019. "Protecting Competition in the American Economy: Merger Control, Tech Titans, Labor Markets," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(3), pages 69-93, Summer.
    10. Steven Berry & Martin Gaynor & Fiona Scott Morton, 2019. "Do Increasing Markups Matter? Lessons from Empirical Industrial Organization," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(3), pages 44-68, Summer.
    11. Thomas G. Wollmann, 2020. "How to Get Away with Merger: Stealth Consolidation and Its Effects on US Healthcare," NBER Working Papers 27274, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Yu, Zhuangxiong & Cheng, Jiajia & Mukhopadhaya, Pundarik & Dong, Jiemiao, 2023. "Do information spillovers across products aggravate product market monopoly? An examination with Chinese data," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    13. Liu, Jing-Yue & Zhang, Yue-Jun, 2021. "Has carbon emissions trading system promoted non-fossil energy development in China?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    14. Jin, Ginger Zhe & Leccese, Mario & Wagman, Liad, 2023. "How Do Top Acquirers Compare in Technology Mergers? New Evidence from an S&P Taxonomy," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    15. Gautier, Axel & Lamesch, Joe, 2021. "Mergers in the digital economy," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    16. Cabral, Luís, 2021. "Merger policy in digital industries," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    17. Christian Fons-Rosen & Pau Roldan-Blanco & Tom Schmitz, 2022. "The Effects of Startup Acquisitions on Innovation and Economic Growth," Working Papers 944, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    18. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/44gofgf80399mp5fq5q50vv5t6 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Cavenaile, Laurent & Celik, Murat Alp & Tian, Xu, 2021. "The Dynamic Effects of Antitrust Policy on Growth and Welfare," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 42-59.
    20. McShane, William & Sevilir, Merih, 2023. "R&D tax credits and the acquisition of startups," IWH Discussion Papers 15/2023, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    21. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/44gofgf80399mp5fq5q50vv5t6 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Rabbani, Maysam, 2021. "Mergers with Future Rivals Can Boost Prices, Intensify Market Concentration, and Bar Entry," MPRA Paper 112864, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 26 Apr 2022.
    23. Rabbani, Maysam, 2023. "Mergers with future rivals can boost prices, bar entry, and intensify market concentration," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    24. Gugler, Klaus & Szücs, Florian & Wohak, Ulrich, 2023. "Start-up Acquisitions, Venture Capital and Innovation: A Comparative Study of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 340, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    25. Kevin A. Bryan & Erik Hovenkamp, 2020. "Antitrust Limits on Startup Acquisitions," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 56(4), pages 615-636, June.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • K21 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Antitrust Law
    • L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices

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