In antitrust matters such as mergers and unfair competition cases, it is customary for the competition authority to conduct survey  research on customers and competitors to find facts about the case at hand. Such surveys can help the authority develop an understanding about the case, which may be hard to override with quantitative evidence such as economic analysis. However, because results depend on the design and implementation of the survey, the parties should fully understand the implications of the various methodological options on the results before beginning the survey design process. They should also understand the implications of the design choices on the results before presenting the results to the authorities. 

In this seminar, participants will see how surveys are conducted, how to evaluate survey evidence, and how survey evidence relates to economic analysis in real and hypothetical antitrust cases.