Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
评估联邦反垄断替代方案：COPA案例研究
Evaluating Substitutes for Federal Antitrust: The Case of COPAs
摘要
Are state-imposed behavioral remedies effective substitutes for federal antitrust enforcement? We evaluate state regulation of hospital mergers under Certificates of Public Advantage (COPAs). Using hospital data from 1996–2022, we estimate the treatment effect of mergers for both COPA-regulated events and unregulated but similar anticompetitive events, each relative to non-merging controls. The difference between the two treatment effects isolates the impact of state-imposed behavioral remedies: in highly concentrated markets, COPA mergers result in an 11.1 p.p. lower price effect but a 0.5 p.p. greater 30-day mortality effect. We find a negative correlation between price and mortality effects for COPA mergers, consistent with theoretical predictions that binding price caps exacerbate quality deterioration. Our findings suggest that COPA contracts are poor substitutes for traditional antitrust enforcement.
中文摘要
国家强制的行为性救济措施能否有效替代联邦反垄断执法？我们评估了在“公共优势证书”（COPAs）下，州级对医院并购的监管情况。利用1996年至2022年的医院数据，我们估计了并购对COPA监管事件及未受监管但类似的反竞争事件的处置效应，均与未并购对照组相比。两种处置效应之差揭示了州级行为性救济措施的影响：在高度集中的市场中，COPA并购导致价格效应降低11.1个百分点，但30天死亡率效应增加0.5个百分点。我们发现COPA并购的价格与死亡率效应之间存在负相关，这与理论预测一致，即约束性价格上限会加剧质量下降。我们的研究结果表明，COPA合同难以成为传统反垄断执法的有效替代品。