Testing justification for segment based relevant product market definition in merger control: Evidence from Turkey

In this paper, we aim to investigate whether different segments of beer products can constitute a separate relevant product market within the framework of competition law. This question gained importance when the merger between Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller became subject to a Phase II investigation by the Turkish Competition Authority in March 2016, which ultimately ended with an unconditional clearance decision, based on an intact "beer" market, recognizing that the relevant product market regarding beer brands in Turkey must be wider than the premium segment. To answer the research question above concerning relevant product market definition, we implement a Hypothetical Monopolist Test in two steps. In the first step, the aggregate price elasticity of demand for the premium segment is estimated econometrically by using a nested logit demand model. This model tests whether products in the same group are closer substitutes than products in different groups. We conclude that the correlation of beers within the same group is not statistically significant. Since the data in our study are obtained at the retail level, the price elasticity of demand at the brewer level is derived from the estimate at the retailer level by using very conservative assumptions with regard to the passthrough rates. In the second step, the hypothetical monopolist test is implemented by using the critical elasticity which is calculated by using the profit margins for the premium beer segment at brewer/supplier level under both 5 percent and 10 percent SSNIP. It is seen that the actual elasticity of demand for the premium segment is larger than the critical elasticity (in absolute value) under both scenarios. These findings show that the relevant product market regarding beer brands in Turkey must be wider than the premium segment. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved

Emerging markets and U.S. horizontal merger guidelines: A Turkish competition law perspective

Developed economies have historically been a model for emerging market economies, particularly in the development and enforcement of competition laws. Modifications to competition law rules in developed economies, however, may not always be practical for emerging market economies to adopt. Insufficient knowledge, experience, and power of competition law authorities in emerging markets require a structure with greater legal certainty rather than one that provides a wide berth for interpretation. This article provides an overview of some of the significant developments in the 2010 U.S. Horizontal Merger Guidelines from an emerging market perspective. While taking into consideration the general characteristics of emerging market countries, the treatment of four specific topics under the new Guidelines will be scrutinized from a law and economics perspective: market definition, market shares and market concentration, market entry, and coordinated effects. This article also delves into discussions of Turkish competition law matters, as an example of emerging merger regime models, with respect to each of the four areas of discussion. © The Author (2014).Published by Oxford University Press

Most-favored-nation clauses in commercial contracts: legal and economic analysis and proposal for a guideline

The prevalent use of “most favored nation” (MFN) clauses in commercial agreements has garnered significant attention in the economics and legal literature and by practitioners and enforcement agencies. From an antitrust standpoint, there is a strong consensus that while MFN provisions can lead to procompetitive outcomes or at least play a competitively neutral role, they may also result in competitive harm and a loss of consumer welfare. Therefore, US and EU enforcement agencies and courts have held that MFNs should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, considering the specific characteristics of both the contractual provision and the industry. While a case-by-case approach is valid, it is not ideal from a variety of standpoints: that of the competition authorities seeking to make best use of their limited resources and that of practitioners seeking to advise their clients. Accordingly, published guidelines on the use of MFNs, containing presumptions and safe harbors, would be both efficient and useful. The paper argues that it would increase the efficiency and accuracy of antitrust enforcement if one of the leading competition authorities issued MFN guidelines. The paper suggests a set of presumptions and safe harbors that should be included in any such guidelines. © 2015, The Author(s)

I Rest My Case! The Possibilities and Limitations of Blockchain-Based IP Protection

We have identified, mapped and discussed existing research on Blockchain-based solutions for intellectual property (IP) protection, an investigation that emerged from a case in antibody production for scientific and medical applications. To that end, we have performed a systematic literature review and created an instrument that classifies the contributions according to the materiality of the object they protect (from immaterial to physical), the type of protection (authorship notarization or prevention of illegal use) and the type of research (conceptual or empirical). Our results can be used to understand which avenues to pursue in the effort to create a new generation of more effective technology-assisted IP protection systems, a priority for 152 signatory countries of the patent cooperation treaty

Beating the random walk: a performance assessment of long-term interest rate forecasts

This article assesses the performance of a number of long-term interest rate forecast approaches, namely time series models, structural economic models, expert forecasts and combinations thereof. The predictive performance of these approaches is compared using outside sample forecast errors, where a random walk forecast acts as benchmark. It is found that for five major Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, namely the US, Germany, UK, The Netherlands and Japan, the other forecasting approaches do not outperform the random walk on a 3-month forecast horizon. On a 12-month forecast horizon, the random walk model is outperformed by a model that combines economic data and expert forecasts. Several methods of combination are considered: equal weights, optimized weights and weights based on the forecast error. It seems that the additional information contents of the structural models and expert knowledge adds considerably to the performance of forecasting 12 months ahead. © 2013 Taylor & Francis

U.S. monetary policy and herding: Evidence from commodity markets

This paper investigates the presence of herding behavior across a spectrum of commodities (i.e., agricultural, energy, precious metals, and metals) futures prices obtained from Datastream. The main novelty of this study is, for the first time in the literature, the explicit investigation of the role of deviations of U.S. monetary policy decisions from a standard Taylor-type monetary rule, in driving herding behavior with respect to commodity futures prices, spanning the period 1990-2017. The results document that the commodity markets are characterized by herding, while such herding behavior is not only driven by U.S. monetary policy decisions, but also such decisions exert asymmetric effects this behavior. An additional novelty of the results is that they document that herding is stronger in discretionary monetary policy regimes.N/