CE Academic Affiliate Professor Justine Hastings and Director Dr. Michael A. Williams publish an article entitled “What is a ‘but-for world’?” in the Fall 2016 issue of Antitrust.
In many antitrust class action cases, the plaintiff asserts that anticompetitive conduct caused prices to rise above competitive levels. In such cases, economic experts analyze how actual prices compare to prices in a “but-for world” in which the alleged anticompetitive conduct did not occur. The composition of a proper but-for world and how one estimates but-for prices in that world are central points of contention in many antitrust class action cases. This article provides an economic analysis of this issue, including real-world examples from the authors’ experiences as testifying experts in recent cases.