Beschreibung:
In antitrust cases in which the defendant (a cartel or a dominant supplier) overcharged a firm, the defendant often claims: (1) the firm passed on the higher price to its customers, (2) its sales volume did not decrease materially, (3) so it lost little profit—the damages are small. The cases estimate the price pass-on, sometimes also the volume decrease, and from the estimate(s), calculate the damages.This paper bounds the damages directly, using minimal data: the sales with and without the overcharge, and the amount of the overcharge. The bounds limit over- or undercompensation and provide a sense-check on any other estimate of the damages