Keith Waehrer Presents on Digital Markets and the Sprint/T-Mobile Merger
Managing Director Keith Waehrer presented on a panel titled “Digital Markets: Big Data, Privacy Protection and AI” at the 2021 15th International Conference on Competition and Regulation organized by CRESSE. Dr. Waehrer discussed the FTC’s litigation against Facebook and whether that litigation and DOJ’s Google litigation are indicative of novel digital market specific theories or whether these fit in the traditional antitrust mold.
Dr. Waehrer also lead a seminar titled “Lessons from Sprint/T-Mobile Merger Investigations, Litigation, and Remedy” in the Mannheim Competition Policy Forum (MCPF) online series organized by Mannheim Centre for Competition and Innovation (MaCCI). Dr. Waehrer discussed several lessons from the investigations and litigation. Dr. Waehrer also discussed the remedy crafted by the Department of Justice – including whether the remedy is playing out as expected and whether the remedy makes sense from a broader economic welfare perspective.
Pablo Varas Joins Secretariat Economists and Publishes About Residential Broadband Markets
Pablo Varas has joined Secretariat Economists as an Associate Director. Dr. Varas has conducted economic analysis in the healthcare, electricity, retail, and oil industries. Dr. Varas recently published “Revising the Record: Six Stylized Economic Facts About Pre-Covid US Residential Broadband Markets” in the Journal of Information Policy. The paper uses publicly available data to study the evolution of the U.S. Broadband Industry pre-Covid. Dr. Varas and his coauthor find that service prices have not decreased much over time. Additionally, the authors find there has been very limited entry by new residential broadband service competitors, and this limited entry largely is due to technological innovations in wireless.
Jason Albert Publishes About Strategic Dynamics of Antibiotics Use
Associate Director Jason Albert published “Strategic Dynamics of Antibiotics Use and the Evolution of Antibiotic-resistant Infections” in the International Journal of Industrial Organization. In this article, Dr. Albert analyzes and models the effects of healthcare provider competition on antibiotic use and antibiotic-resistant infections. Dr. Albert finds a “Goldilocks” effect. In provider markets that are highly competitive, there is overuse of antibiotics and high levels of antibiotic resistance. Whereas, in markets with low levels of provider competition, there is underuse of antibiotics. Dr. Albert also analyzes the effects of policy proposals designed to mitigate the harms from antibiotic-resistance.