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Competition and Mergers among Nonprofits

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  • Prüfer, J.

    (Tilburg University, TILEC)

Abstract

Should mergers among nonprofit organizations be assessed differently than mergers among for-profit firms? A recent debate in law and economics, boosted by apparently one-sided court decisions, has produced the result that promoting competition is socially valuable regardless of the particular objectives of producers. In this paper, I challenge the general validity of this result by showing that it may indeed depend on the particular objectives of producers whether a merger between two nonprofits is welfare-decreasing or -increasing. This implies that it is impossible to assess the net effects of a merger between two nonprofits without examining the objectives of the owners involved.
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Suggested Citation

  • Prüfer, J., 2007. "Competition and Mergers among Nonprofits," Discussion Paper 2007-022, Tilburg University, Tilburg Law and Economic Center.
    • Handle: RePEc:tiu:tiutil:6c3a4e62-e2af-4399-965a-7d6f1c0a6e36
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Katalin Katona & Marcel Canoy, 2013. "Welfare standards in hospital mergers," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 14(4), pages 573-586, August.
    3. Marco A. MARINI & Paolo POLIDORI & Desiree TEOBALDELLI & Alberto ZEVI, 2015. "Welfare Enhancing Coordination In Consumer Cooperatives Under Mixed Oligopoly," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 86(3), pages 505-527, September.
    4. Ly, Pierre & Mason, Geri, 2012. "Competition Between Microfinance NGOs: Evidence from Kiva," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 643-655.
    5. Lauren Russell, 2021. "Price Effects of Nonprofit College and University Mergers," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 103(1), pages 88-101, March.
    6. Hidalgo-Hidalgo Marisa & Valera Guadalupe, 2016. "University Merging Process: A Guideline Proposal for Excellence-Enhancing," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 16(3), pages 1359-1386, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Nonprofits; Mergers; Antitrust; Governance; Owner Objectives; Notfor- profit Sector; Organizational Choice;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L44 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Antitrust Policy and Public Enterprise, Nonprofit Institutions, and Professional Organizations
    • L31 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Nonprofit Institutions; NGOs; Social Entrepreneurship
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • K21 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Antitrust Law

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