The Italian Competition Authority re-launches its “Temi e Problemi” working paper series, which host contributions from the Authority staff on antitrust and consumer protection matters. In this issue, the economist Notaro applies a number of empirical methods to the pasta cartel, uncovered by the Italian Competition Authority in 2007. The paper contributes to the on-going debate on the quantification of the damages caused by anticompetitive conduct, the “optimal” level of fines and the benefits to society of a proper antitrust enforcement. Notaro’s empirical analysis shows that the estimated benefits of the cartel detection and cease, following the intervention of the Italian Competition Authority, amount to roughly 7 times the Authority’s annual budget.
