RT Journal Article
T1 Short and Long Run Effects of Leniency Programs on Cartel Stability and Prosecution
A1 Borrell, Joan Ramon
A1 García, Carmen
A1 Jiménez, Juan Luis
A1 Ordóñez-de-Haro, José Manuel
K1 Delincuencia
AB This study investigates the effects of leniency programs on cartel duration, cartel fines, and the length of investigations, providing empirical insights that contribute to the ongoing debate regarding their theoretical and empirical implications. The introduction of leniency programs in two different jurisdictions (EU and Spain) at different times and the exogeneity of the introduction date enable us to identify their impact using difference-in-differences estimations. We empirically show that leniency programs, by destabilizing existing cartels, allow for the detection of the longer-lasting ones in the short run. In the long run, our results suggest that destabilization effects prevail, and leniency programs discourage the creation of new cartels. Specifically, our findings indicate that the duration of detected cartels almost doubles in the short run and nearly halves in the long run. Finally, our study reveals that the introduction of leniency programs results in a significant increase in the average fines per cartel case, both before and after taking into account the fine reductions resulting from these programs. This suggests that leniency programs contribute to stronger sanctions against cartels, enhancing their general deterrent effect. However, our findings also indicate that leniency programs lengthen the average duration of cartel investigations, which may hinder the ability of competition authorities to proactively pursue other cases.
PB Oxford University Press
YR 2024
FD 2024-05-26
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10630/33822
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10630/33822
LA eng
NO Joan-Ramon Borrell, Carmen García, Juan Luis Jiménez, José Manuel Ordóñez-de-Haro, Short and Long Run Effects of Leniency Programs on Cartel Stability and Prosecution, Journal of Competition Law & Economics, Volume 20, Issue 3, September 2024, Pages 181–205, https://doi.org/10.1093/joclec/nhae007
NO ERASMUS+ Programme- Jean Monnet Activities Projects and Networks (611585-EPP-1-2019-1-ES-EP), the Spanish Government (PID2019-104319RB-I00) and the Catalan Government (2017SGR644).Program Salvador de Madariaga (IUE2014/00014).Junta de Andalucía-FEDER through projects UMA18-FEDERJA-243 and P18-FR-3840.Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación through Project PID2021-127736NB-I00.
DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga
RD 12 abr 2026