Merger Remedies and the Undersupply of Economic Research

In the 14 years since this quote, the empirical study of merger remedies has seen little advancement despite frequent use of remedies in practice, significant policy interest, and a treasure trove of potential research topics. This article first describes the use of remedies in U.S. merger policy, including a summary of the FTC’s recent remedy study. It then provides a review of empirical literature addressing remedy effectiveness, with only two modern retrospectives of domestic merger remedies. The article concludes by highlighting areas where economic research could further advance the study of merger remedies.