Research Handbook on Global Merger Control

Book excerpt: Over the past 30 years, merger control has become well-established around the world with broad consensus around its ambit and objectives. That consensus has fractured in recent years. Enforcement today is at a critical juncture, facing an array of challenges and calls for reform unprecedented in their scope and intensity. Authored by leading legal practitioners, economists, enforcers, and jurists, this timely Research Handbook on Global Merger Control discusses various critiques that have been made and considers an array of jurisdictional, procedural, substantive, and other issues that are generating intense debate across the antitrust community. These include the scope and objectives of merger control, whether merger control can be reconciled with industrial policy, whether the consumer welfare standard is an appropriate tool for substantive assessment, whether merger control should be used to meet broader policy objectives, and whether existing rules and presumptions are appropriate for the digital age. This Handbook will be of great value to anyone interested in global merger control, digital markets, industrial policy, and the role of public interest considerations. It provides an excellent tool for academics and practitioners looking to gain a rounded view of current issues in global merger control and an understanding of how enforcement is likely to evolve.