Industry trade balance and domestic merger policy: Empirical evidence from U.S. merger policy for manufacturing sectors

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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 languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)404-415
Number of pages12
JournalContemporary Economic Policy
Volume23
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2005
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Business, Management and Accounting
  • Economics and Econometrics
  • Public Administration

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