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on Law and Economics |
| By: | Donna, Javier; Pereira, Pedro |
| Abstract: | The 2023 Merger Guidelines (MGs) change the Agencies’ narrative regarding non-horizontal mergers. They follow a four-pronged approach: (1) They blend horizontal and non-horizontal mergers. (2) They simplify the narrative about non-horizontal mergers. (3) They consoli- date and broaden the theories of harm in non-horizontal mergers. (4) They blend economics and law analysis. In this article, we elaborate on these points. We discuss how the MGs’ an- ticompetitive presumptions apply to non-horizontal mergers, relate them to the economics literature, and provide examples. We finish discussing the economic rationale of the struc- tural presumption involving rivals’ exit concerns due to the exercise of market power and propose a path forward. |
| Keywords: | Antitrust, 2023 Merger Guidelines, Vertical Mergers, Rivals' Exit, Double Marginalization, Merger Evaluation, Competition Policy |
| JEL: | K21 K41 K42 L44 L52 |
| Date: | 2024–05–20 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:121615 |
| By: | D'Agostino, Mollie C.; Michael, Cooper E.; Ramos, Marilia; Correa-Jullian, Camila |
| Abstract: | Vehicle automation represents a new safety frontier that may necessitate a repositioning of our safety oversight systems. This white paper serves as a primer on the technical and legal landscape of automated driving system (ADS) safety. It introduces the latest AI and machine learning techniques that enable ADS functionality. The paper also explores the definitions of safety from the perspectives of standards-setting organizations, federal and state regulations, and legal disciplines. The paper identifies key policy options building on topics raised in the White House’s Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, outlining a Blueprint for ADS safety. The analysis concludes that potential ADS safety reforms might include either reform of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), or a more holistic risk analysis “safety case” approach. The analysis also looks at caselaw on liability in robotics, as well as judicial activity on consumer and commercial privacy, recognizing that the era of AI will reshape liability frameworks, and data collection must carefully consider how to build in accountability and protect the privacy of consumers and organizations. Lastly, this analysis highlights the need for policies addressing human-machine interaction issues, focusing on guidelines for safety drivers and remote operators. In conclusion, this paper reflects on the need for collaboration among engineers, policy experts, and legal scholars to develop a comprehensive Blueprint for ADS safety and highlights opportunities for future research. |
| Keywords: | Law, Automated vehicle control, traffic safety, case law, policy, machine learning, artificial intelligence |
| Date: | 2024–07–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt3rk928z0 |
| By: | Manuela Pulina (University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy); Alessandro Salis (University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy; visiting at Masaryk university, Faculty of Economics and Administration, Masaryk University Experimental Economics Laboratory (MUEEL), Brno, Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | This study provides a dynamic analysis of illegal drug trafficking in the Italian region of Sardinia, using the Local Labour Systems (LLS, ISTAT) framework. Data from major regional newspapers (January 2017 - De-cember 2022) were validated through institutional reports. A multivariate biplot analysis reveals an increase in drug seizures and the Island's role as a hub for national and international drug trade, facilitated by local and traditional mafia organizations. Related crimes are also infiltrating the le-gal economy, particularly in the coastal real estate market. This study high-lights the urgent need for targeted institutional and community strategies to protect younger people, who are increasingly involved in trafficking. |
| Keywords: | Drugtrafficking; Organized Crime; Local Labour Systems; Multivariate Biplot |
| JEL: | K42 O17 R12 C38 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mub:wpaper:2024-05 |
| By: | Maria Montero (University of Nottingham); Alex Possajennikov (University of Nottingham); Yuliet Verbel (University of Michigan) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies responsibility attribution for outcomes of collusive bribery. In an experiment, participants labeled as either citizens or public officials can propose a bribery transaction to another participant (labeled as either public official or citizen, respectively), who decides whether to accept the proposal. We then let either the victims of the corrupt transaction or the bystanders of it judge the individual decisions of proposing and accepting. We interpret these judgments as a measure of responsibility attribution. We find that labels (citizen or public official) have a stronger effect than roles (proposer or responder): public officials are consistently regarded as more responsible for corruption than citizens, while those accepting a bribe are regarded as only somewhat more responsible than those proposing it. Further, we find that victims judge corruption decisions more severely than bystanders, although bystanders’ judgments are also consistently negative. In treatments with a neutral context, we find that judgments are less harsh than in the corruption context, bystanders’ judgments are much less harsh than those of victims, and responders are judged more severely than proposers. Our results suggest that people judge corrupt actors in context, more harshly when they are labeled as law enforcers (i.e., public officials), and that unaffected parties (i.e., bystanders) react nearly as negatively to corruption as those directly affected by it (i.e., victims). |
| Keywords: | responsibility attribution; bribery; experiment |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:not:notcdx:2024-06 |
| By: | Cotti, Chad D. (Department of Ag, Food, and Resource Economics Michigan State University and Center for Demography of Health and Aging University of Wisconsin-Madison); DeCicca, Philip (Department of Economics Ball State University Muncie, IN 47303 and NBER); Nesson, Erik T. (Wake Forest University, Economics Department) |
| Abstract: | We use data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco Use and Health (PATH), a longitudinal data set including self-reported and biomarker measures of tobacco use, to examine the effects of state-level tobacco 21 (T21) laws on smoking and vaping. T21 laws reduce self-reported cigarette smoking among 18-to-20 year olds, concentrated in males. Initial non-users who “age-out” of treatment are less likely to subsequently initiate self-reported smoking or vaping. Treated smokers are less likely to buy their own cigarettes and more likely to buy cigarettes in a different state. Biomarker results are mixed, and we find some evidence of a reduction in nicotine exposure but less evidence for a reduction in exposure to tobacco. Finally, we test for non-classical measurement error. T21 laws reduce the probability that clinically identified likely cigarette smokers self-report as smokers, which may increase the apparent effect of T21 laws on cigarette smoking as measured by self-reports. |
| Keywords: | Tobacco T21; Smoking; Vaping; Biomarkers |
| JEL: | I12 I18 K42 |
| Date: | 2024–08–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:wfuewp:0113 |
| By: | Julia M. Puaschunder (Columbia University, USA) |
| Abstract: | Arts is as old as humankind and a worldwide phenomenon. A scientific investigation of arts, however, is rather seldom since the arts are oftentimes applied and touch on multiple disciplines. Arts production and consumption are perceived as less rational and tangible than classic goods and services. Neoclassical economics therefore hardly has any account of the commercialization of arts. The opening of the neoclassical economics model for behavioral aspects in the behavioral economics revolution has now paved the way to start researching the arts and surreal pricing mechanisms in the arts world. This paper is a call for research of arts from a Law and Economics perspective. Law and Economics offers ways to understand the value of arts in society and derive inferences on how to improve certain features and peculiarities of the arts market. A Behavioral Law and Economics perspective could help elucidate social welfare enhancement potential for the individual passive consumer of arts, the active arts market actors as well as economies and society as a whole, including future generations. With the growing commercialization of arts and rising use of arts as an unregulated collateral in the finance world, capturing the peculiar dynamics of arts markets holds unprecedented value. Legal recommendations could target at addressing market downfalls and risk management strategies in the arts world. |
| Keywords: | arts, behavioral economics, commercialization of arts, cryptocurrencies, culture, non-fungible token (NFT), private goods, public goods, tickets, tokens |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:scmowp:01280 |
| By: | Thea How Choon; Giovanna Marcolongo; Paolo Pinotti |
| Abstract: | Pressure groups may use bribes, violence, or a combination of both to bend politics to their will, and the choice between these methods of influence can vary depending on the type of institutional regime. We empirically investigate the dynamics of bribes and violence around elections in democracies and autocracies using a novel measure of corruption based on the Panama Papers and other massive data leaks on offshore entities in tax havens, which are often used as vehicles for bribes, and data on attacks against politicians around the world between 1990 and 2015. Evidence from staggered difference-in-differences and regression discontinuity in time models shows that in democracies attacks against politicians escalate before elections, whereas in autocracies bribes increase after elections. These findings align with a theoretical framework in which pressure groups use political violence to sway democratic elections in favor of their preferred candidates, while resorting to bribes to influence the behavior of newly appointed bureaucrats and public officials in autocracies. |
| Keywords: | Elections, Violence, Corruption, Pressure Groups |
| JEL: | K42 D72 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:baf:cbafwp:cbafwp24229 |