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Regression Estimates of Damages in Price-Fixing Cases (From Statistics and the Law, P 79-106, 1986, Morris H. DeGroot, et al, eds. -- See NCJ-117664)

NCJ Number
117665
Author(s)
M O Finkelstein; H Levenbach
Date Published
1986
Length
28 pages
Annotation
Four cases are described in which multiple regression was used to estimate damages in antitrust price-fixing cases.
Abstract
The question of whether multiple regression can be used appropriately to estimate damages in antitrust price-fixing cases has been explored by several authors, damages being measured by the difference between prices paid by plaintiff purchasers and prices they would have paid in the absence of defendant conspiracy. The four cases suggest that the excursion of courts into econometrics and statistics is characterized by two perhaps conflicting observations. The first is the fact that the judicial system presides over the payment of damages when regression evidence of injury is equivocal at best. The second is that the introduction of regression methods may tilt a case against plaintiffs when there is a trial. While theoretical economics suggests a positive response to the question of whether multiple regression can be used appropriately to estimate damages in antitrust price-fixing cases, an examination of the four cases in which expert witnesses attempted to use the technique in actual litigation indicates that considerable caution is required. 17 references, 4 figures. (Author abstract modified)

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