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FTC Bureau of Economics Working Papers are preliminary materials circulated to stimulate discussion and critical comment. The analyses and conclusions set forth are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of other members of the Bureau of Economics, other Commission staff, or the Commission itself. References in publications to FTC Bureau of Economics Working Papers by FTC economists (other than acknowledgment by a writer that he has access to such unpublished materials) should be cleared with the author to protect the tentative character of these papers.

Working Papers are in PDF format. If you have trouble accessing one of these papers, please email ReportRequests@ftc.gov.

Dynamics in a Mature Industry: Entry, Exit, and Growth of Big-Box Grocery Retailers

Authors
Dan Hanner, Daniel Hosken, Luke Olson, Loren Smith, September
Working Paper
308
Published In
Journal of Economics and Management Strategy

This paper measures market dynamics within the U.S. grocery industry (defined as supermarket, supercenter and club retailers). We find that the composition of outlets changes substantially, roughly 7%

A Retrospective Analysis of the Clinical Quality Effects of the Acquisition of Highland Park Hospital by Evanston Northwestern Healthcare

Authors
David J. Balan, Patrick S. Romano
Working Paper
307
Published In
International Journal of the Economics of Business

In 2004, the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission brought legal action retrospectively challenging the 2000 acquisition of Highland Park Hospital by Evanston Northwestern Healthcare in Evanston, Illinois. A major

Naked Exclusion by a Dominant Supplier: Exclusive Contracting and Loyalty Discounts

Authors
Patrick DeGraba
Working Paper
306
Published In
International Journal of Industrial Organization

Recent literature has shown that an incumbent can use exclusive contracts to maintain supra-competitive prices, but only if he completely prevents a more efficient potential entrant from entering, and

State Regulation of Alcohol Distribution: The Effects of Post & Hold Laws on Consumption and Social Harms

Authors
James C. Cooper, Joshua D. Wright
Working Paper
304
Published In
International Review of Law and Economics

PUBLISHED AS: Alcohol, antitrust, and the 21st Amendment: An empirical examination of post and hold laws

The Twenty-first Amendment repealed prohibition, but granted the states broad power to regulate

Petroleum Mergers and Competition in the Northeast United States

Authors
Louis Silvia, Christopher T. Taylor
Working Paper
300
Published In
International Journal of the Economics of Business

Sunoco’s 2004 acquisition of El Paso’s, New Jersey refinery and Valero’s 2005 acquisition of Premcor’s Delaware refinery significantly consolidated refinery control in the U.S. Northeast. The Â鶹´«Ã½

The Success of Divestitures in Merger Â鶹´«Ã½:  Evidence from the J&J-Pfizer Transaction

Authors
Steven Tenn, John M. Yun
Working Paper
296
Published In
International Journal of Industrial Organization

Despite being a widely used tool in merger enforcement, there have been few studies of whether antitrust divestitures are successful.  We help fill this void by conducting a study of the divestitures

The Effect of Hospital Mergers on Inpatient Prices: A Case Study of the New Hanover-Cape Fear Transaction

Authors
Aileen Thompson
Working Paper
295
Published In
International Journal of the Economics of Business

The Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission initiated a Hospital Merger Retrospective Project in 2002 to analyze the effects of consummated mergers.  One of the mergers studied was the 1998 acquisition by New

Two Hospital Mergers on Chicago’s North Shore: A Retrospective Study

Authors
Deborah Haas-Wilson and Christopher Garmon
Working Paper
294
Published In
International Journal of the Economics of Business

We provide an in-depth analysis of the price effects of two hospital mergers that occurred in the north shore suburbs of Chicago in early 2000: Evanston Northwestern Healthcare’s (ENH) purchase of

The Price Effects of Hospital Mergers: A Case Study of the Sutter-Summit Transaction

Authors
Steven Tenn
Working Paper
293
Published In
International Journal of the Economics of Business

We conduct a retrospective study of the Sutter-Summit hospital merger to assess whether antitrust enforcement in this matter was appropriate.  This consummated merger combined two hospitals located

The Role of Education in the Production of Health: An Empirical Analysis of Smoking Behavior

Authors
Steven Tenn, Douglas A. Herman, Brett Wendling
Working Paper
292
Published In
Journal of Health Economics

We estimate the effect of education and student status on the propensity to smoke. Our estimation strategy accounts for the endogeneity of education by “differencing out†the impact of unobserved

Vertical Relationships and Competition in Retail Gasoline Markets: Comment

Authors
Christopher T. Taylor, Nicholas Kreisle, Paul R. Zimmerman
Working Paper
291
Published In
American Economic Review

In a paper in the March 2004 AER, Justine Hastings concludes that the acquisition of an independent gasoline retailer, Thrifty, by a vertically integrated firm, ARCO, is associated with sizable price

Retail Gasoline Pricing: What Do We Know?

Authors
Daniel Hosken, Robert McMillan, Christopher Taylor
Working Paper
290
Published In
International Journal of Industrial Organization

We examine retail gasoline station pricing using three years of weekly prices for 272 stations in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. We report a number of new empirical findings about station