ABA’s Price Point Publishes Article with Analysis Group Coauthors Offering a Practical Guide to Implementing the As-Efficient-Competitor (AEC) Test
August 15, 2023
In an article published by the ABA’s Pricing Conduct Committee, Analysis Group Vice Presidents Hitesh Ram Makhija and Maria Garibotti; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius associate Dennie B. Zastrow; and Julian Manasse-Boetani (J.D., University of Chicago Law School) provide an overview of the as-efficient-competitor (AEC) test and offer a practical guide for implementing it.
The AEC test is a price-cost test that typically is used to evaluate whether discounts offered by leading firms (such as loyalty discounts or bundle discounts) foreclose smaller rivals. Noting that AEC tests have been used in US Circuit Courts of Appeals to assess claims of anticompetitive tying and exclusive dealing contracts, the authors walk through a hypothetical example of the calculations used in performing an AEC test and explain how the test can be used to manage and monitor antitrust risk.
The article, “A Practical Guide to the Implementation of the As-Efficient-Competitor (AEC) Test,” was published in The Price Point, the Pricing Conduct Committee’s digital newsletter.