May 10, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: cohenmilstein@berlinrosen.com
American Antitrust Institute and Cohen Milstein Announce Winners of Jerry S. Cohen Award for Antitrust Scholarship
Annual award recognizes outstanding contributions to antitrust scholarship
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In recognition of their outstanding contribution to antitrust scholarship, the authors listed below have been selected as recipients of the 21st Annual Jerry S. Cohen Memorial Fund Writing Award:
- Gopal Das Varma, Vice President, Charles River Associates
- Martino De Stefano, Principal, Charles River Associates
- Erik Hovenkamp, Associate Professor of Law, USC Gould School of Law
The award will be presented during the gala luncheon at the American Antitrust Institute’s 24th Annual Policy Conference: Taking Stock of Antitrust’s Pro-Enforcement Movement on May 23, 2023 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
The authors will be honored for their respective articles:
“Entry Deterrence, Concentration, and Merger Policy,” 61 Review of Industrial Organization 199 (2022), by Das Varma, G. De Stefano, M.: In merger enforcement, entry is considered to be a factor that potentially can mitigate otherwise anti-competitive effects of a merger. The current framework for entry analysis evaluates whether potential entrants are likely to have the incentives and ability to enter the industry under the conditions of elevated profitability that are created by an anti-competitive merger. The article argues that missing from entry analysis is the notion that incumbent firms may proactively deter entry and how such incumbent incentives may change as a result of a merger. By modeling entry as the outcome of a game between incumbents and potential entrants, they show that a merger can reduce the likelihood of entry even at elevated profit levels by increasing incumbent incentives to invest in entry deterrence. Through this model, the authors offer two policy implications for merger enforcement.
“The Antitrust Duty to Deal in the Age of Big Tech,” 131 Yale L.J. 1483 (2022), by Hovenkamp, E.: The rise of dominant platforms like Google, Facebook, and Amazon has provoked intense debate over whether the antitrust duty to deal needs a revival. Many such platforms are accused of refusing to deal with (or discriminating against) rivals in adjacent markets. The article argues that any effective reform to the antitrust duty to deal must begin by disentangling two distinct lines of refusal cases. Subjecting these cases to different liability standards would help to address many of the key concerns raised on both sides of the debate. The justifications for this approach, the author argues, are manifold.
The three winners of the two articles will share the $12,400 prize. Each winner will also receive a specially commissioned and inscribed artwork by Lori Milstein, artist and daughter of Herb Milstein, co-founder of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.
This year’s award selection committee consisted of Zachary Caplan, Trial Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division; Warren Grimes, Professor of Law at Southwestern Law School; John Kirkwood, Professor of Law at Seattle University School of Law; Roger Noll, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Stanford University; Leslie Marx, Professor of Economics at Duke Fuqua School of Business; Robert Lande, Professor of Law at University of Baltimore School of Law; Daniel H. Silverman, Partner at Cohen Milstein; and Daniel A. Small, Of Counsel at Cohen Milstein. (Professor Marx and Professor Kirkwood recused themselves from deliberations relating to their own articles.)
About the Award
The Jerry S. Cohen Memorial Fund Writing Award was created through a trust established in memory of Jerry S. Cohen, an outstanding trial lawyer and antitrust scholar. The award is administered by the law firm he founded, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.
The award honors the best antitrust writing published during the prior year that is consistent with the values that animated Jerry S. Cohen’s professional life — a genuine concern for economic justice, the dispersal of economic power, effective limitations upon economic power, and the vigorous enforcement of the antitrust laws.
About Cohen Milstein
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC is a premier U.S. plaintiffs’ law firm, handling high-profile and often precedent-setting litigation. With over 100 attorneys across the country, Cohen Milstein has offices in Washington, DC, Chicago, IL, New York, NY, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, Philadelphia, PA, Raleigh, NC, Boston, MA and Minneapolis, MN. For more information, call 202.408.4600.
About the American Antitrust Institute
The American Antitrust Institute (AAI) is an independent, nonprofit organization devoted to promoting competition that protects consumers, businesses, and society. AAI serves the public through research, education, and advocacy on the benefits of competition and the use of antitrust enforcement as a vital component of national and international competition policy. For more information, visit www.antitrustinstitute.org or call (202) 828-1226.