Behavioural Economics and the EU Merger Control Regime

Posted by Social Science Research Network

Behavioural Economics and the EU Merger Control Regime – Michele Giannino (Independent)

ABSTRACT: Academics and competition enforces advocated the idea to use behavioural economics to apply competition law. The believe that the so-called behavioural antitrust should provide for a more accurate understanding of the conducts of economic operators. It is however unsettled whether behavioural antitrust may have a role in merger control. This paper deals with the question whether behavioural economics can play an effective role in EU merger control and how it can be possibly incorporated into it. It can be argued that the European Commission already takes into consideration the concerns voiced by behavioural economists about the biases of consumers and undertakings. Therefore, at this stage of development the role behavioural antitrust may have in the context of the EU merger control seems to be still quite limited.