Making a Market out of a Mole Hill? Geographic Market Definition in Aspen Skiing

Posted by D. Daniel Sokol

Jeffrey T. Macher and John W. Mayo (both Georgetown - McDonough School of Business) explore Making a Market out of a Mole Hill? Geographic Market Definition in Aspen Skiing.

ABSTRACT: Because firm conduct in Aspen Skiing stands at the outer boundaries of monopolization, it has received considerable scrutiny from antitrust scholars. The critical and somewhat puzzling determination of the relevant geographic market in this case—“the Aspen area”—however has received essentially no attention. In this paper, we report the results of archival and interview research to illuminate the process by which the district court initially determined this narrow market definition and how this market determination withstood the appeals process.