Mergers and social welfare in U.S. manufacturing: 1985-86

A study was conducted to examine changes in social welfare arising from US merger activities in the manufacturing industries. The study focuses on market level conditions and considers data covering the period from 1985 to 1986. It is shown that over short durations, market customers lost because of the merger activities while the industry firms gained. However, the margin of gain was not enough to support consumer losses.