Electric Utility Mergers: Principles of Antitrust Analysis

(Hardback)

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Competition in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity is of increasing interest to policy makers as well as to buyers and sellers of power. The use of competition as a social policy tool to benefit consumers carries the necessity of preserving competition when it is threatened by mergers or other structural changes. The work explains central principles of antitrust economics and applies them to mergers in the electric power industry. This work focuses on mergers, but the economic principles explained here will be useful in analyzing many important issues flowing from growth of competition in electric power. For example, proper definition of markets and analysis of market power will be useful in decisions on whether to continue regulation.

Reviews

The strength of this book is its attempt to correct standard regulatory practices and rules of thumb in analysis within a rigorous and consistent economic framework. This volume has potential for being useful to upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers who are interested in antitrust, public utility economics, and public policy.-Choice
This book is useful as an overview of the major issues that will arise not only with respect to mergers and acquisitions in the industry, but other competitive concerns as well.-Review of Industrial Organizations
"This book is useful as an overview of the major issues that will arise not only with respect to mergers and acquisitions in the industry, but other competitive concerns as well."-Review of Industrial Organizations
"The strength of this book is its attempt to correct standard regulatory practices and rules of thumb in analysis within a rigorous and consistent economic framework. This volume has potential for being useful to upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers who are interested in antitrust, public utility economics, and public policy."-Choice

Author Bio

MARK W. FRANKENA is Senior Economist with Economists Incorporated, where he has been employed since 1988. Between 1982 and 1988, Dr. Frankena was employed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Economics, where he supervised antitrust analysis. BRUCE M. OWEN has been President of Economists Incorporated since 1981 and Visiting Professor of Economics at Stanford University's Washington, D.C., campus since 1989. He was Chief Economist of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 1979 through 1981. Prior to this, Dr. Owen was a faculty member at Duke and Stanford Universities.