Estimating the Price Effects of Mergers and Concentration in the Petroleum Industry:
An Evaluation of Recent Learning
January 14, 2005
Washington, DC
The Federal Trade Commission will host a public conference in Washington, DC, on January 14, 2005, to examine two recent studies focusing on the price effects of mergers and concentration in the United States petroleum industry. The conference, which is open to the public, will be held at the FTC's Conference Center located at 601 New Jersey Ave., NW. Preregistration is not required, and members of the media are welcome to attend the one-day event, which begins at 9 a.m.
The conference brings together a group of independent economic experts to evaluate two studies examining price effects within the petroleum industry. The first is a March 2004 case study of the effects of the recent Marathon/Ashland Corp. joint venture. The second is the May 2004 report by the Government Accountability Office that examined the effects of mergers and market concentration in the U.S. petroleum industry.
FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras and Bureau of Economics Director Luke Froeb will give welcoming remarks at the conference. The economists scheduled to participate in the high-level, econometric discussion are from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas, the University of Chicago, and the University of California at San Diego. A preliminary agenda can be found as a link to this press release on the FTC's Web site.
- Transcript (Friday, January 14, 2005)
- Workshop Agenda
- News Release
Additional Materials
- Estimating the Price Effects of Mergers and Concentration in the Petroleum Industry: An Evaluation of Recent Learning
Deborah Platt Majoras, Opening Remarks (January 14, 2005 – 9:00 AM), Washington, DC
- Estimating the Price Effects of Mergers and Concentration in the Petroleum Industry : An Evaluation of Recent Learning
Luke Froeb, Introductory Comments, January 14, 2005
- Chris Taylor / Daniel Hosken [Presentation [PDF 281KB]]
- Chris Taylor [Presentation [PDF 171KB]]
- Jerry Hausman [Presentation [PDF 28KB]]
- Dennis Carlton [Presentation [PDF 81KB]]
- Hal White [Presentation [PDF 128KB]] [Attachment 2 [PDF 372KB] ]
Materials Provided to the Panelists
- Government AccountabilityOffice "Effects of Mergers and Market Concentration in the U.S. Petroleum Industry"
- Christopher Taylor and Daniel Hosken "The Economic Effects of the Marathon - Ashland Joint Venture: The Importance of Industry Supply Shocks and Vertical Market Structure" [PDF 403KB]
- "FTC Staff Technical Report " Robustness of the Results in GAO's 2004 Report Concerning Price Effects of Mergers and Concentration Changes in the Petroleum Industry" [PDF 6.20MB]
- "GAO Comments on the FTC Marathon Ashland Study" [PDF 26KB]