7. Methodological Principles of Assessing Cartel Harm (Effects)

There is no doubt that a cartel-induced harm assessment is the object of economic analysis. However, since the economic aspect requires a complex approach to the problem, underlining only harm is too narrow. Even though a cartel in general has an adverse effect on the economy, the integrated assessment of its effects on the national economy as a whole needs to consider both a negative (harm) and a positive, even though minor, effect. Despite the necessity for an integrated assessment at macro (national) or mezzo (regional) level and its importance for enforcing antitrust policy decisions, the academic literature mainly focuses on problems relating to the assessment of harm suffered by individual affected parties rather than on the integrated impact assessment due to poor practical applicability of this assessment compared with a harm assessment. Considering that the assessment of harm is a constituent of the integrated impact assessment it is assumed that the methodological principles of harm assessment correspond to the principles of effects assessment. Therefore, formulation of methodological principles for the integrated assessment of cartel impact on the national economy was mainly based on the methodological principles of harm assessment.