Abstract
The literature on antitrust in an open-economy setting is inconclusive with respect to the role played by trade balance on the tenor of domestic merger policy. Using a panel dataset composed of U.S. merger reviews by industrial sector over the 1982-2001 period, I empirically test the impact of sectoral trade balance on the level of antitrust scrutiny. The results suggest that larger trade balances lead to more vigorous antitrust scrutiny; thus "strategic" merger policy does not appear evident, and consumer surplus appears to guide U.S. merger policy even under the lure of international competitive gains.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 404-415 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Contemporary Economic Policy |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 2005 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Business, Management and Accounting
- Economics and Econometrics
- Public Administration