Abstract
This is an empirical study of Department of Justice(DOJ) enforcement of the antitrust laws. Its purposeis fourfold:
1. To update Posner's study ``A Statistical Study ofAntitrust Enforcement'’ (Posner, 1970, pp. 365–419).
2. To provide consistent andcomparable measures of antitrustenforcement effortby the Department of Justice.
3. To report these measurements in a concise andsystematic way inorder to encourage empiricalstudies of antitrust issues.
4. To explore some implications for antitrustissues.
The purpose is to present the overall historicalrecord of DOJ antitrust activity as well as somepatterns in that history. More detailed analysis isleft for future work.
The following information for cases undertaken by theDOJ are reported: number of cases, choice of civil orcriminal remedies, alleged violations, corporateofficials prosecuted, won-loss record, civil andcriminal sanctions imposed, and length of theproceedings. The principal source of data is theCCH Trade Regulation Reporter, commonly referred toas the CCH Bluebook which contains briefsummaries of all DOJ antitrust cases in order of theirfiling.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Areeda, P., and L. Kuplow (1988) Antitrust Analysis: Problems, Text, Cases, 4th edn. (also 1994 supplement). Boston: Little, Brown.
Beckenstein, Alan R., and H. Landis Gabel (1985) ‘The Economics of Antitrust Compliance’, Southern Economic Journal, 52, 673–692.
Becker, Gary S. (1968) ‘Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach’, Journal of Political Economy, 76, 169–217.
Blair, Roger D. (1985) ‘A Suggestion for Improving Antitrust Enforcement’, The Antitrust Bulletin, 30, 433–456.
Bork, Robert H. (1978) The Antitrust Paradox: A Policy at War with Itself. New York: Basic Books.
Briet, William, and Kenneth Elzinga (1986) Antitrust Penalty Reform: An Economic Analysis. Washington: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.
Calkins, Stephen (1997) ‘Corporate Compliance and the Antitrust Agencies' Bi-Modal Penalties’, Law and Contemporary Problems, 60, 127–167.
Commerce Clearing House (1955–1994) Trade Regulation Reporter, United States Antitrust Case Summaries. (looseleaf 1955–1991) CCH Bluebook.
Craycraft, Catherine, Joseph L. Craycraft, and Joseph C. Gallo (1997) ‘Antitrust Sanctions and a Firm's Ability to Pay’, Review of Industrial Organization, 12, 171–183.
Dau-Schmidt, Kenneth G. (1983) ‘Sentencing Antitrust Offenders: Reconciling Economic Theory with Legal Theory’, William Mitchell Law Review, 9, 75–100.
Dau-Schmidt, Kenneth G. (1990) ‘An Economic Analysis of the Criminal Law as a Preference-Shaping Policy’, Duke Law Journal, 1990, 1–38.
Elzinga, Kenneth G., and William Breit (1976) The Antitrust Penalties: A Study in Law and Economics. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Faith, Roger L., Leavens, Donald R., and Tollison, Robert D. (1982) ‘Antitrust Pork Barrel’, Journal of Law and Economics, 25, 329–342.
Fischel, Daniel R., and Alan O. Sykes (1996) ‘Corporate Crime’, Journal of Legal Studies, 25, 319–349.
Flynn, John J. (1967) ‘Criminal Sanctions under State and Federal Antitrust Laws’, Texas Law Review, 45, 1301ff.
Fortune Directory of U.S. Corporations. Annual with a variety of titles.
Gallo, Joseph C., and Vivek Goshal (1996) ‘Changes in Economic Activity, Political Stance and Variations in the Department of Justice's Antitrust Enforcement’, Working Paper, University of Cincinnati.
Gallo, Joseph C., Joseph L. Craycraft, and Steven C. Bush (1985) ‘Guess Who Came to Dinner: A Statistical Study of Federal Antitrust Enforcement for the Period 1963–1984’, Review of Industrial Organization, 2, 106–130.
Gallo, Joseph C., Joseph L. Craycraft, and Shantanu Dutta (1986) ‘Incarceration and Fines: An Empirical Study of Antitrust Sanctions’, Review of Industrial Organization, 3, 38–66.
Gallo, Joseph C., Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt, Joseph L. Craycraft, and Charles J. Parker (1994) ‘Criminal Penalties under The Sherman Act: A Study of Law and Economics’, Research in Law and Economics, 16, 1–73.
Handler, Milton, Harlan M. Blake, Robert Pitofsky, and Harvey J. Goldschmid (1990) Trade Regulation: Cases and Materials, 3rd edn. with 1995 Supplement. Mineola, N.Y.: Foundation Press.
Henderson, T. (1969) Punishment: The Supposed Justifications. Boston: MIT Press.
Herring, George C. (1979) America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam 1950–1975. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Hills, Carla A., ed. (1971) Antitrust Advisor. Colorado Springs: Shepard's.
Himmelberg, Robert F., ed. (1994) Antitrust and Business Regulation in the Postwar Era, 1946–1964, Vol. 8, Business and Government in America Since 1870 Series. New York: Garland.
Kintner, Earl W. (1978) The Legislative History of the Federal Antitrust Laws and Related Statutes, Part I, The Antitrust Laws; Vol. 1, The Sherman Act and Fair Trade Amendments; Vol. 2, The Clayton Act and Amendments; Vol. 3, The FTC Act and Amendments; Vol. 4, Acts Relating to Foreign Commerce; Vol. 5, Acts Relating to Procedure and Enforcement. New York: Chelsea House.
Kovacic, William E. (1989) ‘Federal Antitrust Enforcement in the Reagan Administration: Two Cheers for the Disappearance of the Large Firm Defendant in Nonmerger Cases’, Research in Law and Economics, 12, 173–206.
Kovaleff, Theodore P. (1980) Business and Government during the Eisenhower Administration: A Study of the Antitrust Policy of the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press.
Landes, William M. (1983) ‘Optimal Sanctions for Antitrust Violations’, University of Chicago Law Review, 50, 652–678.
Miller, Frank W., Robert O. Dawson, George E. Dix, and Raymond I. Parnas (1991) Cases and Material on Criminal Justice Administration. Mineola, NY: Foundation Press.
Moody's Industrial Manual (Annual). New York: Moody's Investors Service.
Moore, Thomas C. (1982) ‘The Applied Theory of Regulation: A Comment on the Alexis Paper’, Public Choice, 39, 29–32.
Peltzman, Sam (1976) ‘Toward a General Theory of Regulation’, Journal of Law and Economics, 19, 211–240.
Polinsky, A. Mitchell, and Steve Shavell (1984) ‘The Optimal Use of Fines and Imprisonment’, Journal of Public Economics, 24, 89ff.
Posner, Richard A. (1970) ‘A Statistical Study of Antitrust Enforcement’, Journal of Law and Economics, 13, 365–419.
Posner, Richard A. (1974) ‘Exclusionary Practices and the Antitrust Laws’, University of Chicago Law Review, 48, 515–523.
Posner, Richard A. (1976) Antitrust Law: An Economic Prospective. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Posner, Richard A. (1980) ‘Optimal Sanctions for White Collar Crime’, American Criminal Law Review 17, 409.
Riordan, Michael H., and Steven C. Salop (1995) ‘Evaluating Vertical Mergers: A Post-Chicago Approach’, Antitrust Law Journal, 63, 513–568.
Shavell, Steve (1985) ‘Criminal Law and Optimal Use of Nonmonetary Sanctions as a Deterrent’, Columbia Law Review, 85.
Shepherd, William G. (1991) Public Policies Toward Business. Homewood, Ill.: Irwin.
Simpson, Sally S. (1987) ‘Cycles of Illegality: Antitrust Violations in Corporate America’, Social Forces, 65, 943–963, reprinted in Himmelberg (1994).
Snyder, Edward A. (1990) ‘The Effects of Higher Criminal Penalties on Antitrust Enforcement’, Journal of Law and Economics, 33, 439.
Sullivan, E. Thomas, and Herbert Hovenkamp (1995) Antitrust Law Policy and Procedure: Cases, Materials, Problems. 3rd edn., with Supplements. Charlottesville, Va.: Michie.
Sullivan, Lawrence A. (1977) Handbook of the Law of Antitrust. St. Paul: West.
Task Force Reviews ABA Report on the Antitrust Division (1989) ‘Interview with Ira Millstein’, Antitrust, 5.
U.S. Congress (1954) Subcommittee to Study Increasing Criminal Penalties under the Sherman Act, Hearings. 83rd. Cong., 2nd. Sess.
U.S. Congress, House Select Committee on Small Business (1957) Congress and the Monopoly Problem: Fifty-six Years of Antitrust Development, 1900–1956, History of Congressional Action in the Antitrust Field Since 1900. 84th Cong., 2nd. Sess.Washington: GPO. Reprinted New York: Greenwood, 1968.
U.S. Department of Justice (1978) ‘Materials Relating to Prosecutorial Discretion’, Criminal Law Reporter, 24, 3001–3006.
Werden, Gregory J., and Marylin J. Simon (1987) ‘Why Price Fixers Should Go to Prison’, Antitrust Bulletin, 32, 917–937.
Whalley, Judy L. (1988) ‘Priorities and Practices – The Antitrust Division's Criminal Enforcement Program’, Antitrust Law Journal, 57, 569–577.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gallo, J.C., Dau-Schmidt, K., Craycraft, J.L. et al. Department of Justice Antitrust Enforcement, 1955—1997: An Empirical Study. Review of Industrial Organization 17, 75–133 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007865923061
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007865923061