The post-cartel equilibrium puzzle in the German cement market: A reply to Huschelrath, Muller and Veith
Posted by D. Daniel Sokol
Niels Frank (Lademann & Associates GmbH and University of Bayreuth) and Philipp Schliffke offer The post-cartel equilibrium puzzle in the German cement market: A reply to Huschelrath, Muller and Veith
ABSTRACT: Kai Huschelrath, Kathrin Muller, and Tobias Veith study the German cement cartel that lasted from the beginning of the 1990s until the end of 2001. Using both a during-and-after and a yardstick difference-in-difference approach, they estimate cartel overcharges between 20 percent and 26.5 percent, pointing out that they have explicitly considered alternative post-cartel transition periods. We show that the authors fail to account for the most important aspect of damage estimation in that case—a punishment phase that followed the internal breakdown of the cartel. The result is an estimated overcharge that is more than twice as large as it was estimated during court proceedings. We develop a simple procedure that helps to estimate the length of the post-cartel off-equilibrium period. Using this procedure, we show that any overcharge estimation that is not considering this punishment phase is highly non-robust and yields upward biased overcharge estimates.
Featured News
Canadian Breadmakers Settle Price-Fixing Lawsuit
Jul 25, 2024 by
CPI
EssilorLuxottica Open to Meta as Shareholder, Says CEO Francesco Milleri
Jul 25, 2024 by
CPI
California Supreme Court Upholds Proposition 22, Securing Independent Contractor Status for Uber and Lyft Drivers
Jul 25, 2024 by
CPI
Paramount Global Investor Sues to Block Skydance Media Merger
Jul 25, 2024 by
CPI
Software Vendors Win Class Action Status in Antitrust Case Against CDK Global
Jul 25, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – International Trade & Antitrust
Jul 26, 2024 by
CPI
What is Wrong with the WTO Discipline on Subsidies?
Jul 26, 2024 by
CPI
The Abiding Tension Between Trade Remedy Law and Antitrust
Jul 26, 2024 by
CPI
Trade and Antitrust: An End to Isolationism
Jul 26, 2024 by
CPI
International Trade Law and Domestic Regulation of Generative Artificial Intelligence: Divergent Approaches?
Jul 26, 2024 by
CPI