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2014 Rom. Competition J. 24 (2014)
Detecting Cartels through Analytical Methods

handle is hein.journals/rocmpj2014 and id is 49 raw text is: Detecting Cartels through Analytical Methods Florin Andrei92 Mihail Busu93 Abstract Anticompetitive agreements are usually made by undertakings that interact frequently within the economic activities they carry out. Even though some agreements between undertakings are necessary for the good development of their businesses and get benefits for the final consumers as well, sometimes, some economic operators conclude secret agreements that are harmful to the economy and to the consumers as well (anticompetitive agreements). Detecting such behaviours is in the responsibility of the worldwide competition authorities. They are utilizing either direct evidences, got through down raides, or through indirect evidences, obtained by utilizing analytical methods for detecting anticompetitive behaviours. Effective application of these methods leads to detecting cartels and to create a healthy competitive environment. Keywords competition law, anticompetitive agreements, indirect evidence, bid rigging, market shares JEL classification: D43, L11, L41 1. Introduction Cartels between enterprises can be achieved in several ways, among the most well-known ones being: price fixing, bid rigging, output limitation and market sharing. Among the factors that favour cartels' formation, we mention: the elasticity of the demand, the concentration degree of sales or of buyers, barriers to entry on the market, the existence of information exchanges between companies, markets with a high bankruptcy risk, stable or declining demand, the interaction of firms competing on a variety of markets or even markets with repeated cartelization. 2. Theoretical studies on the detection of anticompetitive behaviours Although the literature in the field is plentiful in studies concerning cartels' detection, the possibility of cartels' emergence and the necessary conditions of cartels' stability, no method offering robust results could have been identified yet. (Bajari and Ye, 2003) compare the collusive and competitive structural methods in order to observe which of them could be able to explain better a given set of data. The information belonging to Bajari and Ye's study refers to thefirst-price sealed auction 92 Director- Research and Synthesis Department, Romanian Competition Council Competition Inspector - Research and Synthesis Department, Romanian Competition Council

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