Research
          

Antitrust and (Foreign) Innovation: Evidence from the Xerox Case
[Latest Version] [CRC Discussion Paper]
Revise & Resubmit at Journal of Industrial Economics

Non-technical summary: ProMarket
Finalist, Young Talent Competition Award, Lear Competition Festival, 2023

Abstract: How does antitrust enforcement against patent-based monopolies affect innovation? I address this question by empirically studying the US antitrust case against Xerox, the monopolist in the market for plain-paper copiers. In 1975, Xerox was ordered to license all its copier-technology patents in the US and abroad. I show that this promoted innovation by other firms in the copier industry, measured by a disproportionate increase in patenting in technologies where Xerox patents became available for licensing. This positive effect is driven by increased innovation by Japanese competitors. They started developing smaller desktop copiers and their innovation became more diverse.

Imperfect Price Information, Market Power, and Tax Pass-Through
(with Felix Montag, Alina Sagimuldina, and Monika Schnitzer)
[Latest Version] [Stigler Center Working Paper] [CRC Discussion Paper]

Non-technical summary: ProMarket

Abstract: Pass-through determines how consumers respond to Pigouvian taxes or unconventional fiscal policy. We investigate the impact of imperfect price information on pass-through of commodity taxes. Our theoretical model predicts that the pass-through rate increases with the share of well-informed consumers. Pass-through is higher for the minimum price, paid by well-informed consumers, than for the average price, paid by uninformed consumers. Moreover, pass-through to the average price is non-monotonic with respect to the number of sellers. An empirical analysis of multiple recent tax changes in the German and French retail fuel markets supports these predictions.