Merger assessment in Japan: the declining importance of market shares

Koki Arai (JFTC) explores Merger assessment in Japan: the declining importance of market shares.

ABSTRACT: Around the globe, most authorities assess mergers on the basis, primarily, of the market shares held by parties. That approach has been set aside in two important cases adopted in the last years by the Japanese Fair Trade Commission (JFTC). The new attitude adopted by the JFTC mirrors a growing importance of economic analysis in the cases examined in Japan, as in other parts of the world.