The assessment of mergers in online and offline retail sales: Are new tools needed for the economist's toolbox?
Concurrences No. 3 - 2018
Six Analysis Group consultants have jointly written articles on the subject of competition in the retail industry for an “On-Topic” published in the competition law review Concurrences. Titled “Online and offline retail distribution,” the set of articles collectively assesses the effects that online shopping and distribution have had on brick-and-mortar businesses, and the dilemmas they pose for antitrust and competition enforcement as it evolves to take account of the phenomenon.
In the article, Managing Principal Emily Cotton discusses how the tools that economists use to evaluate retail mergers are changing due to the increasing importance of online competition. They summarize recent decisions by competition authorities in Europe and the US, and describe how enforcers have used those tools to arrive at their decisions.
Authors
Cotton E, Fix A