SEEK Project 2019: Cross and Common Ownership of Firms and Their Effect on Competition and Innovation

SEEK Project 2019: Cross and Common Ownership of Firms and Their Effect on Competition and Innovation

Client/Allowance

Baden-Württemberg

Period: 01.05.2019 – 31.03.2021

The purpose of this SEEK Project was to investigate the effects of cross ownership of firms (by other firms) and common ownership of firms (by third-party investors; for instance, private equity firms or other institutional investors) on firms’ strategies in the product market and the technology space. More specifically, we ask how cross and common ownership affect firms’ price and non-price strategies and show how such ownership structures change market outcomes through their effects on markups and innovation.The project team addressed the following questions in four subprojects:

  1. Do cross and common ownership lead to more collusion and collusion between companies?
  2. Are vertical linkages (in the supply and value chain) a widespread phenomenon and what impact do they have on competitors?
  3. What role does common ownership play in the innovation behavior of firms?
  4. What effects do shareholding structures and ownership structures of service stations in Germany have on competition and prices in the fuel market?

Since cross and common ownership usually take the form of minority shareholdings, this empirically prevalent phenomenon is not covered by merger control. Most of the existing work has been of theoretical nature, and conclusive empirical evidence (on general effects, and the difference of cross and common ownership more specifically) is still lacking, especially for the European market. The goal of the project was to fill this gap.

Project members

Bernhard Ganglmair

Bernhard Ganglmair

Project Coordinator
Head of Junior Research Group

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Alexander Kann

Alexander Kann

Researcher

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Ilona Tsanko

Ilona Tsanko

Researcher

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Nadine Hahn

Nadine Hahn

Researcher

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Sven Heim

Sven Heim

Research Associate

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Yossi Spiegel

Yossi Spiegel

Research Associate

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Client/Allowance
Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart, DE
Cooperation partner
IDC Reichman University, Herzliya, IS // University of Zurich, Zürich, CH // Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, IS // Mines ParisTech, Paris, FR

Contact

Bernhard Ganglmair
Head of Junior Research Group
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Ganglmair
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