Forensic economics in competition law enforcement

This paper delineates the specialty field of forensic industrial organization (IO) as the application of theoretical and empirical industrial organization economics in the legal process of competition law enforcement. Four stages of that process that can benefit from forensic IO techniques are distinguished: detection and investigation; case development; decision-making and litigation; and remedies, sanctions, and damages. We survey the use of economics in such aspects as identifying potential forms of anticompetitive behavior, screening markets for competition law violations, determining causality, advising on appropriate remedies, and assessing antitrust damages. The paper discusses the role of expert economic witnesses in competition cases. It calls for an organization of forensic IO within the context of existing forensic institutes.