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INDUSTRY TRADE BALANCE AND DOMESTIC MERGER POLICY: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM U.S. MERGER POLICY FOR MANUFACTURING SECTORS
Author(s) -
CLOUGHERTY JOSEPH A.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
contemporary economic policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.454
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1465-7287
pISSN - 1074-3529
DOI - 10.1093/cep/byi030
Subject(s) - scrutiny , economics , balance of trade , balance (ability) , international economics , commercial policy , industrial policy , international trade , medicine , political science , law , physical medicine and rehabilitation
The literature on antitrust in an open‐economy setting is inconclusive with respect to the role played by trade balance on the tenor of domestic merger policy. Using a panel dataset composed of U.S. merger reviews by industrial sector over the 1982–2001 period, I empirically test the impact of sectoral trade balance on the level of antitrust scrutiny. The results suggest that larger trade balances lead to more vigorous antitrust scrutiny; thus “strategic” merger policy does not appear evident, and consumer surplus appears to guide U.S. merger policy even under the lure of international competitive gains.