Peter C. Carstensen

Bio: Peter C. Carstensen is an academic researcher from University of Wisconsin-Madison. The author has contributed to research in topics: Competition (economics) & Rule of reason. The author has an hindex of 7, co-authored 39 publications receiving 152 citations. Previous affiliations of Peter C. Carstensen include American Antitrust Institute & University of Notre Dame.

What is harm to competition? exclusionary practices and anticompetitive effect

Abstract: Antitrust, or competition law, is said to be comprised of two types of offenses exploitative and exclusionary The paradigmatic exploitative offense is a cartel, which raises prices to buyers and ultimately to consumers The paradigmatic exclusionary offense is a boycott to enforce a cartel The cartel members must keep at bay outsiders who would destroy their enterprise This means that such a boycott is also exploitative a use of exclusion to achieve exploitation

The 2002 Senate Farm Bill: The Ban on Packer Ownership of Livestock

Abstract: The packer ownership amendment is a congressional attempt to address existing problems in the competitive environment of the livestock industry. Because the amendment permits contractual arrangements between packers and producers unless the producer no longer materially participates in the management of the operation with respect to the production of livestock, the claimed harms arising from the amendment are likely to be less significant than claimed offsets by the potential benefit to the marketplace. If any negative market effects occur, such effects will likely be the result of packers exercising power over the marketplace. The economic fundamentals, apart from strategic behavior, do not warrant such dire claims. In addition, irrespective of the merits of the economic argument that contracting and alliances in livestock production are essential to efficiency and competition, the amendment?s ban on packer ownership will not bar producers and packers from entering into such agreements.

Unfair trading practices in the food supply chain

Abstract: Ce dossier est specialement dedie a la reglementation des pratiques commerciales deloyales de la chaine d'approvisionnement alimentaire, et presente une selection de contributions sur les differents…

Concentration and the Destruction of Competition in Agricultural Markets: the Case for Change in Public Policy

Abstract: This essay reviews the dramatic changes in the structure of the markets in which farmers and ranchers sell their products as well as those that provide them with essential goods and services. These changes involve dramatic increases in concentration within the markets, substantially greater vertical integration, and increased concentration on a sector basis. These structural changes have in turn made feasible a number of practices that have or have the potential to have adverse competitive effect on both producers and consumers. The essay argues that antitrust has lost its appreciation of its fundamental goals and failed to take adequate account of many of the potential risks arising from the dramatic transformation of agricultural markets. The essay concludes with suggestions for reversing the trend toward concentration by more vigorous antitrust enforcement and for adopting new legislation to provide greater protection to farmers and ranchers in their dealings with powerful customers and suppliers.

United States V. _____

Abstract: FACTS An officer in Midvale, Utah was doing some paperwork in his patrol car when he was approached by man, later identified as Nitokalisi Fonua (hereinafter, “Nick”). Nick “looked suspicious,” mainly because he was “jittery, looking around and appeared to be very nervous.” Nick’s suspicion rating jumped dramatically when, for no apparent reason, he informed the officer he had stolen a white GMC Blazer, which he had parked nearby. Naturally, the officer asked Nick if he would show him the Blazer, and Nick said sure. When they located the Blazer, the officer walked over and looked inside. The first thing he saw was a sawed-off shotgun on the back seat. Then he noticed some markings on the shotgun, “markings that looked gang-related.” Nick told the officer that the key to the Blazer was inside his motel room at the Days Inn. Also in the room, he said, were his “cousins,” meaning “people he knows from the streets.” The officer asked Nick “if we could obtain the keys to the vehicle so we could turn those back over to the owner.” Nick said the keys “were in the room somewhere” and that he “didn’t care” if the officer went in and retrieved them. Nick also gave the officer his key to the room. When backup arrived at the motel, officers knocked on the door which was opened by a man named Vake. There were two other occupants: a woman and Kimoana, the defendant. By this time, the officers were aware that Kimoana—not Nick—had rented the room. The first thing the officers saw as the door opened was the woman pointing “an unidentified black object” at the wall. Concerned for their safety, they ordered the occupants to “show their hands.” Then they pat searched them. Finding no weapons (the “unidentified black object” was a television remote control), they holstered their guns. Although the officers already had Nick’s consent to search the room, they sought and obtained consent from Vake. During the search, they found a “long-barreled revolver” under a mattress. As the result, Kimoana was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

How Effective is European Merger Control

Abstract: This paper applies a novel and intuitive approach based on stock market data to a unique dataset of large concentrations during the period 1990-2002 to assess the effectiveness of European merger control. We analyze the economic effects of the European Commission's merger control decisions and distinguish between prohibitions, clearances with commitments (either behavioral or structural), and outright clearances. We run an event study on merging and rival firms' stock prices to quantify the profitability effects of mergers and merger control decisions. The basic idea is to relate announcement and decision abnormal returns: merger control is effective if anticompetitive rents observed around the merger announcement are reversed by the antitrust decision, i.e. if there is a negative relation between announcement and decision abnormal returns. Our findings suggest that only outright prohibitions completely solve the competitive problems generated by the merger. Remedies are on average not effective in solving anticompetitive concerns, yet, we can qualify this finding. Remedies are more effective when they are applied during the first rather than the second investigation phase. Moreover, the European Commission appears to learn over time, since remedies are on average more effective in industries where they have been intensively applied before.

A reassessment of the link between mental disorder and violent behaviour, and its implications for clinical practice

Abstract: Objective and Method: This review examines the central studies which, over the last decade, have investigated the association between mental illness and rates of violent behaviours. The clinical an...