Price Effects of Dutch Hospital Mergers: An Ex-post Assessment of Hip Surgery

This study analyses price effects of six mergers in the Dutch healthcare industry. We investigate whether the merging hospitals raised their prices for hip surgery after the merger and, if so, how patients react to this higher price. For seven of the twelve hospitals involved, we found a statistically significant price increase for hip surgery, for three hospitals we found a significant price decrease. There is no clear relationship between price changes of hip surgery and changes in travelling behaviour of patients post merger.     

A Short Overview of a Methodology for the Ex-Post Review of Merger Control Decisions

Summary  This paper is based on a study commissioned by the European Commission, in which we proposed a detailed methodological approach for the ex-post assessment of decisions reached by the European Commission in the field of merger control. The methodology focuses on how to establish whether the market structure arising from the decision is apt to protect consumer welfare better than the market structures that could have arisen from alternative decisions. It provides suggestions on how assess the impact of the decision relative to the possible counterfactuals and discusses the empirical techniques that can be used to perform this evaluation.     

Spatial Price Discrimination and Merger: The N-Firm Case

The consequences of merger are analyzed in an N-firm model of spatial price discrimination. The merger occurs with known probability after location decisions have been made. The possibility of merger alters locations, generates inefficiency, and increases the profit of the merging firms. In the case of corner mergers, but never in the case of interior mergers, the possibility of merger may also reduce the profit of the excluded firms.     

Profitable Mergers in a Cournot Model of Spatial Competition

This paper investigates the profitability and locational effects of mergers when Cournot firms compete in spatially differentiated markets. A two-firm merger is generally profitable because the merged partners can coordinate their location decisions. The merged firm locates its plants outside the market quartiles with distance from the market center being an increasing function of the number of nonmerged firms remaining at the market center. Profitable two-firm mergers reduce competitive pressure, leading to higher prices and reduced consumer surplus. The merger increases total surplus by increased locational efficiency and the increased profits of the merged and nonmerged firms.     

Endogenous Efficiency Gains from Mergers

This article analyzes endogenous efficiency gains from mergers. It considers oligopolistic homogeneous good markets and duopolistic and triopolistic markets under product differentiation (PD) (quantity and price competition). In a two‐stage game, firms invest in cost‐reducing innovation (with and without mergers) and then compete in output/prices. It is found that in homogeneous good markets, all possible mergers generate efficiency gains, and that these are most significant when R&D spillovers are very low or very high. Efficiency gains increase with the number of insiders and generally decrease with the number of outsiders. With PD, in most cases, the merger generates efficiency gains when spillovers and/or PD are sufficiently high. With PD, efficiency gains increase with spillovers, but may increase or decrease with the level of PD. The implications of the results for the relationship between competition and innovation outputs and for merger policy are discussed.     

Simulating the Effects of Railroad Mergers

The purpose of this paper is to add to the empirical literature regarding merger simulation analysis by examining the effect of railroad mergers on railroad market power. This is done by measuring railroad profits and revenue/variable cost ratios corresponding to different degrees of intrarailroad competition for movements of Kansas export wheat to Houston, Texas. Two models are developed to achieve the objectives of the study. A network model of the wheat logistics system is used to identify the least cost transportation routes from the Kansas study area to the market at Houston. A profit improvement algorithm, which identifies Nash equilibrium prices, is developed to measure the amount by which railroads can profitably raise their prices above variable cost. The results of the study have implications for U.S. railroad merger policy. The paper indicates that railroad mergers do not necessarily increase railroad market power or make railroad shippers worse off. Instead, the study demonstrates that the impact of railroad mergers on shippers and railroads depends on factors that vary geographically, such as the degree of intrarailroad and intermodal competition in the area.     

Food crisis and export taxation: the cost of non-cooperative trade policies

This paper aims to assess the rationales for export taxes in the context of a food crisis. First, we summarize the effects of export taxes using both partial and general equilibrium theoretical models. When large countries aim to maintain constant domestic food prices, in the event of an increase in world agricultural prices, the optimal response is to decrease import tariffs in net food-importing countries and to increase export tariffs in net food-exporting countries. The latter decision improves national welfare, while the former reduces national welfare: this is the price that must be paid to keep domestic food prices constant. Small net food-importing countries are harmed by both decisions, while small net food-exporting countries gain from both. Second, we illustrate the costs of a lack of regulation and cooperation surrounding such policies in a time of crisis using a global computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, mimicking the mechanisms that appeared during the recent food price surge (2006–2008). This model illustrates the interdependence of trade policies, as well as how a process of retaliation and counter-retaliation (increased export taxes in large net food-exporting countries and reduced import tariffs in large net food-importing countries) can contribute to successive augmentations of world agricultural prices and harm small net food-importing countries. We conclude with a call for international regulation, in particular because small net food-importing countries may be substantially harmed by those policies that amplify the already negative impact of a food crisis.     

Art of the Deal: The Merger Settlement Process at the Federal Trade Commission

This paper models the modern merger review process in which an enforcement agency, here the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), interacts with the acquiring firm to determine the outcome of antitrust regulation. Our empirical implementation of a game theoretic analysis tests whether decisions are driven by the costs and benefits of the proposed enforcement initiative as well as whether firms' responses are colored by competitive and institutional considerations. With respect to firms, the results suggest that mergers are driven by the opportunity to capture efficiencies, In contrast, the structural (anticompetitive) characteristics of mergers do not seem to impact firms' litigation decisions. Firms, however, are deterred from fighting the FTC by the potential negative impact on their reputations. In addition, “hostage effects” associated with the size of the noncontroversial portion of acquisitions held up by the FTC's competitive concerns also affect firm decisions.     

跨国并购和国内并购对企业市场价值的影响及差异:来自中国企业的证据

文章利用2004~2015年BVD(Zephyr)的并购事件研究了中国企业跨国并购和国内并购对企业市场价值影响的差异。事件研究得到以下结论:第一,在公告日窗口两类并购都获得了非负异常收益率,且国内并购的异常收益率不低于跨国并购。第二,分跨国并购目标国来看,如果并购发达国家企业,则获得了非负异常收益率,且两类并购对企业市场价值的影响无显著差异;如果并购发展中国家企业,则没有显著异常收益率,且不高于国内并购。第三,从细分行业来看,高新技术行业的跨国并购没有获得显著异常收益率,且不高于国内并购;无论是传统制造业还是非制造业,国内并购都获得了非负异常收益率,且不低于跨国并购。在此基础上文章利用倾向得分匹配法和倍差法检验了跨国并购与国内并购对企业异常收益率影响的差异,研究发现国内并购创造的市场价值明显高于跨国并购。因此,市场对中国企业的国内并购做出了更加积极的评价。     

加拿大并购反垄断审查中的效率因素分析——以Hillsdown Holdings并购案为例

加拿大反垄断当局对并购进行反垄断控制的法律依据是《竞争法》和《并购实施指南》,其并购反垄断控制政策要求并购可能带来的效率在加拿大境内实现的部分能够补偿该项并购给加拿大生产者和消费者带来的福利净损失,并对能够纳入反垄断当局评估分析的效率因素进行详细界定。由于效率难以观察和证实,在早期的司法实践中,效率因素对于竞争管理局的并购评估审查判定影响有限。20世纪90年代以后,加拿大反垄断当局对于效率的态度逐步趋于友好,效率因素对于反垄断当局最终判定的影响越来越大。     

Determinants of cross-border merger premia

Firms have a broad range of rationales for engaging in cross-border mergers and other forms of foreign direct investment (FDI); while some companies are in search of the cost advantages provided by foreign resources, other firms are primarily interested in gaining access to new markets. Although a significant amount of research has explored the patterns of FDI, little work has been done to assess what influences the value of cross-border mergers and, in particular, what determines why some cross-border mergers are expected to result in higher synergies when compared to others. This paper explores what characteristics of a merger are expected to increase the synergies that a firm will accrue from a cross-border merger by testing how a variety of factors impact the premia paid to effectuate a cross-border merger. We find that firms are willing to pay a higher premium to obtain greater control over foreign firms, and that this control is even more important in mergers involving firms in emerging markets. We also find that the factors affecting deal premia in cross-border mergers differ based on whether the acquirer has a high or low intangible asset intensity level.     

A comparative analysis of monetary responses to global oil price changes: net oil producing vs. net oil consuming countries

In this paper, we examine monetary responses to global oil price changes across a panel of seven major net oil consuming countries and three major net oil producing countries using monthly data from January 1986 to August 2013. Employing a variety of linear and nonlinear causality tests, our main findings are as follows. First, oil price movements directly affect monetary aggregates in both net oil consuming and net oil producing countries. Second, nonlinear causality tests reveal strong causal influences from oil prices to monetary aggregates. Third, nonlinear parametric and nonparametric models reveal oil price changes account for significant changes in monetary aggregates in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and the US among net oil consuming countries and in Canada and Mexico among net oil producing countries. Finally, monetary aggregates in these countries respond nonlinearly only to oil price increases.     

Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes? or Measuring and Evaluating the Effectiveness of Competition Enforcement

Summary  This article surveys, discusses and classifies methods for ex-post evaluation of the efficiency of competition authorities: court appeals, peer reviews, case studies, event studies, (authorities’ own) bottom-up calculations of consumer gains, deadweight-loss estimates, cross-country panel studies etc. Based on empirical estimates from other types of studies and on a simple oligopoly model, one conclusion is that many bottom-up calculations are based on exaggerated estimates of gains from cartel enforcement, relative to those from merger enforcement. Another conclusion is that authorities’ ex-post self evaluations are of limited value, relative to external evaluations. “Who watches the guardians?”, by Juvenal, 2nd century Roman poet and critic.     

Do Analysts Matter for Corporate Tax Planning? Evidence from a Natural Experiment

We exploit an exogenous shock to analyst coverage as a result of brokerage house mergers and closures to examine whether financial analysts influence the tax‐planning activities of the firms they cover. Using a difference‐in‐differences design, we find that, on average, firms affected by broker mergers and/or closures experience a reduction in their GAAP (cash) effective tax rates (ETR) of 2.5 percent (2.6 percent), relative to control firms, translating into average tax expense (cash tax) savings of $34 ($35) million. The treatment effect is more pronounced among firms with lower pre‐event analyst coverage. To explore how analysts affect tax planning, we further document that the treatment effect is greater among firms that lose an analyst who provided an implied ETR forecast in the past, suggesting that analysts influence tax planning via their tax‐specific research efforts. In addition, we find that after merger/closure, weakly governed firms increase their use of aggressive tax strategies, and financially distressed firms experience a larger reduction of cash effective tax rates, relative to control firms. Overall, we provide evidence that a shock to analyst coverage sufficiently changes the cost‐benefit trade‐off of tax planning.     

The effect of mergers on employment and wages: Evidence from Japan

This study investigates the impact of mergers on employment and employees’ wages in Japan, based on 111 mergers between listed firms observed between 1990 and 2003. Typically, the number of employees decreases by 4.45% three years after a merger, even after changes in sales and other variables are controlled. Firms that experience related mergers, and rescue mergers are more likely to decrease the number of workers. At the same time, wages increase by 5.46% per employee. These results suggest that the main motivation behind mergers is not to divest employees of their wealth.     

Spillover Effects of Fraud Allegations and Investor Sentiment

We examine whether a stock price spillover effect spreads through the method of listing or country of origin and whether this spillover effect changes when investor sentiment shifts. Using a sample of fraud allegations against Chinese companies that became public through Chinese reverse mergers (CRMs), we investigate whether firms that experienced negative spillover effects on their stock prices are those from the same country and/or with the same method of listing as the firms accused of fraud. We first show that the negative spillover effect channeled through the firm's country of origin becomes stronger when investor sentiment about Chinese companies becomes pessimistic, as evinced by significant declines in the stock prices of non-fraudulent Chinese companies, including both CRMs and Chinese IPOs. Second, we show that the negative spillover effects on CRMs are stronger than those on Chinese IPOs and non-Chinese reverse mergers, suggesting that both country and listing method are applicable to CRMs. Our findings indicate that (i) investor sentiment plays an important role in the spillover process involving fraud allegations and (ii) while the two channels could coexist, negative spillover effects that spread through the country of origin play a more prominent role than those that spread through the method of listing.     

The Euro and Psychological Prices: Simulations of the Worst-Case Scenario

Currently, nearly 90% of all prices of consumer goods and services in the Netherlands are psychological, conveniently broken or round prices. After converting these 'attractive' guilder prices into euro using the official conversion rate, the resulting euro prices are generally not attractive. The Dutch public is concerned that retailers will not round their euro prices symmetrically upwards and downwards to the next attractive pricing point but only upwards. This paper investigates the question 'What would be the effect on the consumer price index (CPI) if prices were systematically rounded upwards.' Firstly, the attractive pricing points are determined empirically using the actual price sample underlying the Dutch CPI. Secondly, different rounding scenarios are investigated and the likelihood of the worst-case scenario is discussed. It turns out that the euro introduction may cause an increase of the CPI due to psychological price setting by 0.7% at most. However, the competition in the retail sector makes it unlikely that this scenario materialises.     

Prices and the growth of the knowledge economy in Sweden and Western Europe before the industrial revolution

Abstract

This article uses long-term series of real prices for various goods and services to analyse the evolution of the knowledge economy before the Industrial Revolution by focusing on Sweden in comparison with other European countries. During the early modern period, the relative price of knowledge-intensive goods and services, such as iron, paper, salt, sea transports and silver, decreased relative to a Consumer Price Index. The increased productivity levels of these goods and services were caused by increased division of labour and accelerated diffusion of knowledge. However, the real price of foodstuff tended to increase, implying that living standards declined with increased population. Early modern Western Europe acquired a peculiar price structure, characterized by low prices of industrial goods relative to the price of food. Only with the advent of industrial society could the knowledge economy escape the Malthusian entrapment.     

Social networks,rice value chain participation and market performance of smallholder farmers in Ghana

This paper examines the impact of rice value chain participation and social networks on smallholder farmers' market performance outcomes (paddy price, quantity of paddy traded, and net returns), using data from a recent survey of 458 smallholder rice farmers in northern Ghana. We employed a treatment effects model to account for potential selection bias associated with observable and unobservable factors. The empirical results reveal that smallholder farmers' participation in a rice value chain is associated with increased paddy price, quantity traded, and net returns. We also find that value chain participation decisions and market performance are positively and significantly influenced by social networks. The empirical results also suggest that sex, farm size, mobile phone ownership, and access to credit significantly increase paddy prices, quantity traded, and net returns of smallholder rice farmers in the value chain.     

THE GLOBAL BANK MERGER WAVE: IMPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

This paper reconsiders causes and implications of the global bank merger wave, especially for developing economies. Previous studies of the global bank mergers—that is, mergers between banks from different nations—had assumed that these combinations are efficiency‐driven, and that the U.S. case defines the paradigm for all other nations' banking systems. This paper argues that the U.S. experience is unique, not paradigmatic, and that bank mergers are not efficiency‐driven; instead, this merger wave has arisen because of macrostructural circumstances and because of shifts over time in banks' strategic motives. This paper argues that large, offshore banks often engage in cross‐border mergers because they want to provide financial services to households and firms that have reached minimal threshold wealth levels. For developing economies, this suggests that cross‐border acquisitions of local banks by offshore banks will have mixed effects; and it cannot be assumed that the net social impact is positive.