Análisis forense de los cárteles descubiertos en España

El presente trabajo realiza un análisis forense de los cárteles sancionados por las distintas autoridades españolas de la competencia durante los últimos 25 años. Los resultados muestran cómo se ha producido un cambio sustancial tanto en el número como en las características de cárteles detectados por la autoridad de competencia en España desde la aprobación de la última Ley de Defensa de la Competencia de 2007. En los últimos ocho años (2007-2015) se han descubierto no solo más cárteles, sino también cárteles más estables y persistentes. Esto ha sido posible gracias a la entrada en vigor del programa de clemencia y de otros efectivos instrumentos de inspección, análisis, vigilancia y sanción. En los próximos años, la autoridad de competencia se enfrenta al reto de mantener el impulso de la política anticárteles tras las recientes sentencias judiciales que modifican algunos de los instrumentos a disposición de la autoridad de la competencia en la persecución efectiva de los cárteles

The leniency programme: obstacles on the way to collude

There is no honour among thieves. This aphorism concisely expresses why the leniency programmes in competition policy have become one of the most effective instruments in the fight against the cartels. In this work we describe the dissemination, evolution, and effects of the aforementioned programmes in the two decades since its implementation around the world, paying special attention to what is being done at the European Union level and in Spain. The empirical regularities obtained from the descriptive analysis of leniency decisions adopted by the European Commission and by the Spanish Competition Authority provide relevant information about the effectiveness of their corresponding programmes, as well as information about the underlying reasons why companies, in this context, submit applications for sanction exemption or reductions in the penalty amount. We conclude that still there is scope to increase substantially the dissemination and implementation of the leniency programme in Spain, and if the reforms are handled correctly, the programme is set to catch up and to be the main source of detecting and sanctioning of Spanish cartels in the next decad

Redefiniendo los incentivos a la colusión: el programa de clemencia

Los programas de clemencia se han convertido en uno de los instrumentos más efectivos en la lucha contra los cárteles. En este trabajo describimos la difusión, evolución y efectos de tales programas en las dos décadas de su aplicación alrededor del mundo. De las regularidades empíricas extraídas del análisis de todas las decisiones de clemencia adoptadas en la Unión Europea y en España, concluimos que hay margen para ampliar la difusión y aplicación del programa de clemencia en España, y que si se acierta en las reformas, será la fuente principal de detección y sanción de cárteles en la próxima década

When are Cartels more likely to be formed or broken? The role of business cycles

The literature presents mixed contributions about the economic conditions under which cartels form and collapse, and about how stable they are across firm-specific and industry-wide business cycles. The relationship between cartel life cycles and business cycles has not been sufficiently analyzed to date. In this paper, we study in depth whether collusion is pro-cyclical or counter-cyclical. We analyze the relationship between cartel startups/breakups and economic cycles using a dataset of sanctioned cartels by the European Commission that were active between 1997 and 2012, after the leniency program had already been introduced. We also double check whether this relationship has changed with respect to the pre-leniency period from 1991 to 1996. Our results show that cartels are more likely to be formed in upturns, but that cartels tend to breakup also in booms. Upturns in economic cycles appear to cause cartel turnovers: existing cartels die while new ones are set up. Collusion appears to be pro-cyclical with respect to cartel creation, while it seems to be counter-cyclical with regard to cartel demise

Cartel destabilization effect of leniency programs

This paper investigates the theoretically and empirically unsettled question of the effect of the leniency programs on cartel duration, cartel fines and the length of the investigation. The fact that leniency programs were implemented in two different jurisdictions (EU and Spain) at different moments of time, and the exogeneity of the date of introduction, allow us to identify and quantify the effect of the programs on the outcomes using difference-in-difference program evaluation techniques. We empirically show that leniency programs destabilize existing cartels in the short run as expected from theory and previous empirical papers, and then dissuade the creation of new cartels in the long run. Deterrence effects dominate empirically in the long run, although theoretically they might not dominate, and previous empirical findings were inconclusive. Fines per firm increase substantially after the introduction of the leniency policy, despite whistleblowing firms are partially or totally exempted from fines. The duration of the investigation increases with the introduction of the leniency programs. Leniency programs have sharp and clear short-run cartel destabilization and long-run cartel dissuasion effects

Managers' expectations, business cycles and cartels' life cycle

The literature presents mixed findings regarding the economic conditions under which cartels form and collapse, and regarding how stable they are across firm-specific and industry-wide business cycles. The relationship between cartel life cycles and business cycles has been insufficiently analyzed to date. In this paper, we study in depth whether collusion is pro-cyclical or counter-cyclical. We analyze the relationship between cartel start-ups/break ups and economic cycles using a dataset of sanctioned cartels by the European Commission (EC) that were active between 1997 and 2018, after the leniency program had already been introduced. We also double check whether this relationship has changed with respect to the pre-leniency period from 1991 to 1996. Our results show that cartels are more likely to be formed when the business has evolved positively in the previous months, and cartels are less likely to collapse when the business has evolved positively, and managers expect prices to decline. The EC's sanctioning activity has been an effective deterrent and has had a destabilizing effect on cartels. However we found no evidence that managers' expectations on prices affect cartel formation. All these results are an important issue for anti-cartel policy enforcement since knowing when cartels are more prone or less likely to occur would help authorities prevent their formation or their early detection

25 years of leniency programs: a turning point in cartel prosecution

This contribution reviews what we know about the effectiveness of leniency or amnesty programs in cartel prosecutions. Leniency programs have gradually been adopted by as many as 53 competition policy jurisdictions around the globe during the last 25 years. We show that the available evidence supports that the leniency programs have had a strong impact on anti-cartel policy design and effectiveness. (...

Mild hypophosphatasia may be twice as prevalent as previously estimated: an effective clinical algorithm to detect undiagnosed cases

Objectives: Since the prevalence of hypophosphatasia (HPP), a rare genetic disease, seems to be underestimated in clinical practice, in this study, a new diagnostic algorithm to identify missed cases of HPP was developed and implemented. Methods: Analytical determinations recorded in the Clinical Analysis Unit of the Hospital Universitario Clínico San Cecilio in the period June 2018 – December 2020 were reviewed. A new clinical algorithm to detect HPP-misdiagnosed cases was used including the following steps: confirmation of persistent hypophosphatasemia, exclusion of secondary causes of hypophosphatasemia, determination of serum pyridoxal- 5′-phosphate (PLP) and genetic study of ALPL gene. Results: Twenty-four subjects were selected to participate in the study and genetic testing was carried out in 20 of them following clinical algorithm criteria. Eighty percent of patients was misdiagnosed with HPP following the current standard clinical practice. Extrapolating these results to the current Spanish population means that there could be up to 27,177 cases of undiagnosed HPP in Spain. In addition, we found a substantial proportion of HPP patients affected by other comorbidities, such as autoimmune diseases (∼40 %). Conclusions: This new algorithm was effective in detecting previously undiagnosed cases ofHPP, which appears to be twice as prevalent as previously estimated for the European population. In the near future, our algorithm could be globally applied routinely in clinical practice to minimize the underdiagnosis of HPP. Additionally, some relevant findings, such as the high prevalence of autoimmune diseases in HPP-affected patients, should be investigated to better characterize this disorder.Instituto de Salud Carlos III grants PI21-01069 co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) and by Junta de Andalucía grant PI-0268-2019Operational Programme for Youth Employment of the Junta de Andalucía with Ref: POEJ_04/2022-12Instituto de Salud Carlos III with co-funding by FEDER (CD20/00022)(FI19/00118 and CM21/00221) from Instituto de Salud CarlosPostdoctoral fellowship from the Junta de Andalucía (RH-0141-2020

FOXP2 expression and gray matter density in the male brains of patients with schizophrenia

Common genetic variants of FOXP2 may contribute to schizophrenia vulnerability, but controversial results have been reported for this proposal. Here we evaluated the potential impact of the common FOXP2 rs2396753 polymorphism in schizophrenia. It was previously reported to be part of a risk haplotype for this disease and to have significant effects on gray matter concentration in the patients. We undertook the first examination into whether rs2396753 affects the brain expression of FOXP2 and a replication study of earlier neuroimaging findings of the influence of this genetic variant on brain structure. FOXP2 expression levels were measured in postmortem prefrontal cortex samples of 84 male subjects (48 patients and 36 controls) from the CIBERSAM Brain and the Stanley Foundation Array Collections. High-resolution anatomical magnetic resonance imaging was performed on 79 male subjects (61 patients, 18 controls) using optimized voxel-based morphometry. We found differences in FOXP2 expression and brain morphometry depending on the rs2396753, relating low FOXP2 mRNA levels with reduction of gray matter density. We detected an interaction between rs2396753 and the clinical groups, showing that heterozygous patients for this polymorphism have gray matter density decrease and low FOXP2 expression comparing with the heterozygous controls.This study shows the importance of independent replication of neuroimaging genetic studies of FOXP2 as a candidate gene in schizophrenia. Furthermore, our results suggest that the FOXP2 rs2396753 affects mRNA levels, thus providing new knowledge about its significance as a potential susceptibility polymorphism in schizophrenia

Point-of-care manufacturing: a single university hospital's initial experience

The integration of 3D printing technology in hospitals is evolving toward production models such as point-of-care manufacturing. This study aims to present the results of the integration of 3D printing technology in a manufacturing university hospital.Analysis and interpretation of the data supported by Project PI18/01625 (Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Instituto de Salud Carlos III) and European Regional Development Fund (“Una manera de hacer Europa”)