Contrasts in Antitrust Theory: II

Contrasts and correlations in theory assessment.

OBJECTIVE To describe a systematic quantitative approach to assessing the predictions made by competing theories using contrasts and correlational indices of effect sizes. METHODS We illustrate the use of the contrast F and t to compare and combine predictions when the raw data are continuous scores, and z contrasts when working with frequencies in 2 x k tables of counts. RESULTS The tradit...

The Neglected Role of the Individual In Antitrust Conspiracy Theory

Antitrust theory is notoriously fractured along ideological lines. Interventionists stand ready to regulate at a moment’s notice, seeing anticompetitive effects lurking in the shadows every time competitors so much as exchange greetings on the street. The Hyde Park crowd responds to what they see as unjustified paranoia with quasireligious faith in the self-regulating efficiency of markets, tru...

Standards, Patent Policies, and Antitrust: A Critique of IEEE-II

SDOs and Patent Policies Standards developed through a consensus process deliver substantial consumer benefits by allowing components produced by many suppliers to work together, encouraging investment and competition in standard-compliant products. Collaborative standards also may eliminate the uncertainty and delays associated with a marketplace standards war. More over, consensus standards a...

Microsoft Corporation, the Justice Department, and Antitrust Theory

Antitrust in Software Markets

In this paper, we provide an integrated economic framework for conducting antitrust policy in software markets. We identify four fundamental economic characteristics of software markets critical to antitrust analysis: (1) systems and network effects; (2) low marginal costs relative to average costs; (3) software as a durable good; and (4) rapid technological change. We then compare actual antit...