Variations in antitrust enforcement activity

Abstract

The purpose of this study is two-fold:

• 1. To describe the temporal pattern of general antitrust activity, often in a multivariate regression framework, over the years that Richard A. Posner observed (1890–1969) as well as for the subsequent years (1970–1982). We focus not on supplying of data or accounting for the number and types of cases als Posner, but to advance and test hypotheses about the causes and consequences of enforcement patterns.

• 2. To compare the relative temporal antitrust activity of the individual enforcement groups of DOJ, FTC, and private party plaintiffs (PPP) as measured by the number of cases filed.