Study title

Information on markets in which buyer power was an issue. The data result from searches of 118 phase 2 and prohibition merger cases examined by the European Commission (EC) between 1990 and 2004 before the revision of the merger regulation. The data indicates the number of times the following keywords were used in the EC’s merger report: buyer power, countervailing power, bargaining power, buying power, negotiating power and purchasing power. The data further describes 27 of these markets in terms of: (1) merger case; (2) product and geographic market where buyer power was discussed by the EC; (3) level at which buyer power was thought to potentially occur and by whom; (4) who suggested there was buyer power; and (5) the EC’s eventual conclusion on the presence of buyer power.

The ESRC Centre for Competition Policy (CCP) at the University of East Anglia (UEA) undertakes interdisciplinary research into competition policy and regulation that has real-world policy relevance without compromising academic rigour. It prides itself on the interdisciplinary nature of the research and the members are drawn from a range of disciplines, including economics, law, business and political science. The Centre was established in September 2004, building on the pre-existing Centre for Competition and Regulation (CCR), with a grant from the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council). It currently boasts a total of 26 faculty members (including the Director and a Political Science Mentor), 4 full- and part-time researchers and 23 PhD students.