Petter Berg

Ph.d. stipendiat
Petter Berg

Department of Economics

Porcelænshaven 16
DK-2000 Frederiksberg

Tlf.: +45 3815 23 52
Fax:+45 3815 2576
E-mail: pbe.eco@cbs.dk

Link til denne hjemmeside: www.cbs.dk/staff/pberg

Cartels are a menace to society. In order to make the fight against cartels more efficient, the European Commission is encouraging customers to file private litigation suits for damages after cartels. The purpose is to raise a second front against anticompetitive behaviour. The introduction of private litigation raises important economic questions such as:

The structure of the institutional setup: Is the current procedural setup (with fines, a leniency system, private litigation and a proposed settlement procedure) the optimal one to find and prosecute cartels?
The concept of damage: Does the concept of damage entail the same issues when used by economists and lawyers and what is the consequence it there is a discrepancy? Further, who should be entitled to damages, only direct customers or also indirect purchasers?
Calculations: How could and should damages be calculated? It is widely accepted that the currently used models are too simple.

I will try to answer these types of questions and also provide some insights on the workings of cartels.