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Working Paper
Financial Structure and Mergers
We study how corporate debt influences the competitive outcomes of horizontal and conglomerate mergers. In contrast to standard models where debt does not affect pricing, our framework shows that mergers can spread fixed debt obligations across a broader product portfolio, creating an "insurance effect" against adverse demand shocks. This effect interacts with the traditional recapture effect from reduced competition. Using numerical simulations and a case study of a major casino merger, we find that debt can either dampen or amplify post-merger price increases, depending on the merger's ...
Working Paper
A Distance-based Algorithm for Defining Antitrust Markets
We propose a simple algorithm for defining merger-specific geographic antitrust markets based on merging firm proximity. Applying it to over a thousand hypothetical bank mergers, we compare concentration measures in our markets to those defined by the Federal Reserve, which are not merger-specific, finding broad agreement but also offering potential improvements upon current definitions.