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Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar.Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW. Non-technical summarySince 2004, the European Commission (EC) has taken a number of steps to develop a legal framework that allows victims of EU antitrust infringements to obtain compensation. In its Green Paper on damages actions for breach of antitrust rules, the EC ( Although the public and academic discourse on the various methods and models to estimate damages certainly is a necessary step in the process of strengthening antitrust damages actions, the challenges of applying them in actual cases with real-world data are often ignored. Given the fact that the final damage value basically is a function of the demanded quantities of the cartelized product and the cartel-induced increase in price, it becomes apparent that especially the robust estimation of the so-called price overcharge is crucial for a coherent and welfare-improving private enforcement of anti-cartel rules.Against this background, we use publicly available price data from a German cement cartel to estimate the achieved price overcharge. In particular, we apply two different comparatorbased approaches -a 'before-and-after' approach and a 'difference-in-differences' approachand especially study the impact of various assumptions on the transition period from the cartel period to the non-cartel period on the estimated price overcharge. We find that the cartel managed to implement price increases in a range from 20.3% (extended approach with instrumented cement demand) to 20.7% (basic approach) for the 'before-and-after' method and from 26.2% (pooled OLS) to 26.5% (random-effects) for the 'difference-in-differences' method. For the (extended) 'before-and-after' approach, we further show that various assumptions on the transition period from the cartel period to the non-cartel period have a significant impact on the estimated price overcharge. Das Wichtigste in Kürze AbstractWe use publicly available price data from the German cement industry to estimate the cartelinduced price increase. We apply two different comparator-based approaches -the 'beforeand-after' approach and the 'difference-in-differences' approach -and especially study the impact of various assumptions on the transition period from the cartel period to the non-cartel period on the overcharge estimate. We find that the cement cartel led to price overcharges in a range from 20.3 to 26.5 percent depending on model approach and model assumptions.

Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar.Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW.Download this ZEW Discussion Paper from our ftp server:http://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp11066.pdf Non-technical summaryCartel detection is usually viewed as a key task of either competition authorities or compliance officials in firms with an elevated risk of cartelization. We argue that customers of hard core cartels can have both incentives and possibilities to detect such agreements on their own initiative through the use of market-specific data sets. We apply a unique data set of about 340,000 market transactions from 36 smaller and larger customers of German cement producers and show that a price screen -if it had been available at the time -would have allowed particularly larger customers to detect the upstream cement cartel before the competition authority. The results not only suggest that monitoring procurement markets through screening tools has the potential of substantial cost reductions -thereby improving the competitive position of the respective user firms -but also allow the conclusion that competition authorities should view customers of potentially cartelized industries as important allies in their endeavour to fight hard core cartels. Das Wichtigste in Kürze CARTEL DETECTION IN PROCUREMENT MARKETSKai Hüschelrath  and Tobias Veith  November 2011Abstract Cartel detection is usually viewed as a key task of either competition authorities or compliance officials in firms with an elevated risk of cartelization. We argue that customers of hard core cartels can have both incentives and possibilities to detect such agreements on their own initiative through the use of market-specific data sets. We apply a unique data set of about 340,000 market transactions from 36 smaller and larger customers of German cement producers and show that a price screen would have allowed particularly larger customers to detect the upstream cement cartel before the competition authority. The results not only suggest that monitoring procurement markets through screening tools has the potential of substantial cost reductions -thereby improving the competitive position of the respective user firms -but also allow the conclusion that competition authorities should view customers of potentially cartelized industries as important allies in their endeavour to fight hard core cartels. We are indebted to CDC Cartel Damage Claims (Brussels) for the provision of the data set and their cooperativeness in discussing our analyses and results. We are particularly grateful to Jakob Rü...

Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar.Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW.Download this ZEW Discussion Paper from our ftp server:http://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp11081.pdf Non-technical SummaryIn this paper we investigate whether local characteristics influence entrepreneurial activities. One local characteristic that may drive the decision to establish a firm in a specific region is the supply of infrastructure. Infrastructure important for entrepreneurial activity may take different forms and functions. First, trade and industrial growth require physical infrastructure like streets, rails and waterways. Second, particularly for knowledge-and technology-based ventures the knowledge infrastructure is crucial. Third, an additional type of knowledge spillovers may foster local entrepreneurial activities: the local business community. Those networks may help create specific and tacit business knowledge and contacts which may be vital for entrepreneurial firms. We further focus on a region's broadband availability which may spur entrepreneurial activities. New broadband infrastructure may reduce the necessity of physical proximity. Furthermore, taking broadband as a virtual marketplace and an infrastructure for customer contact, its roll-out and the increase of quality is a requirement for firm formations.Using a county-year panel structure we consider the impact of broadband availability on company foundations and control for standard impact factors on venture activities. The central variable of our analysis is a broadband indicator. Broadband penetration is measured on a county basis. A county is equipped with broadband if at least one main distribution frame (MDF) in the county is upgraded to allow for broadband access. We account for different issues with MDFs: Multiple MDFs may be installed within one county, MDFs at county boundaries do not only provide access to households and companies in that county but also to connected consumers in the neighboring counties, and changes of county boundaries across time must be taken into account.On sector level, we find a significantly positive influence of broadband availability on entrepreneurial intensities in high-tech industries like software and technology-intensive services (knowledge-intensive services). In contrast, no influence exists if we look at all sectors.Moreover, other infrastructural drivers of founding activities follow the results known from the literature. In consequence, our study provides evidence for an additional driver of entrepreneurial activities which supports the ...

Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar.Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW.Download this ZEW Discussion Paper from our ftp server:http://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp11069.pdf Non-technical SummaryVertical integration of electricity distribution network operator and electricity supplier is a key issue in European energy markets, in particular since the European Commission (EC) has initiated a sector inquiry in 2005. The EC argues that vertical separation of electricity networks from other activities (such as production and retail) increases consumer surplus, while opponents argue that vertical integration enables cost savings due to economies of scope. The European Competition Commission too indicates the disadvantage of vertical integration in energy markets for retail customers caused by potential discrimination of competitors. Aiming at preventing non-price discrimination the EC suggests alternative regulatory approaches to overcome the challenge of vertical integration. Legal unbundling, as an intermediate approach between ownership unbundling and vertical integration, describes a particular type of separation. In this case, the regulation requires legal separation of a grid unit from the retail/production and the operation of the grid by independent management.In a theoretical model we show that vertically integrated incumbents in the electricity market might have an incentive to favor their own downstream unit over competitors. We distinguish between demand decreasing and cost increasing non-price discrimination. Delaying supplierswitching or withholding important information from competitors are examples for such types of non-price discrimination. This discriminatory behavior might affect the retail prices. Therefore, consumers might be worse off if the distribution network operator and the downstream retail incumbent remain vertically integrated. We further consider the effects that arise from introducing legal unbundling as already implemented in several European Countries. In line with other studies, the results show the legal unbundling regime to be favorable if it works perfectly, i.e. can indeed prevent non-price discrimination.To test our hypotheses derived from the theoretical model we employ cross-sectional data for geographically separated submarkets for household customers in Germany, each served by one distribution network operator, one downstream retail incumbent and a number of small energy providers. As the vertical structure is heterogeneous across the 850 German electricity submarkets for residential customers (t...