Mercado relevante na análise antitruste: uma aplicação do modelo de cidade linear

Abstract

The target of this article is to introduce a simple model that formalizes the concept of "relevant market" used as the most important unity of analysis in the antitrust investigations of the foreign competition agencies around the world. The model is adapted from the linear city model of Hotelling. The model allows a more rigorous discussion about relevant market definition and its implications to real world analysis, defining the most important variables to be addressed. As this concept is poorly explored in the theoretical literature, there is a wide range of interpretations based on static and dynamic approaches on real world applications, withou enough attention to the different implications involved, which reflects lack of conceptual strengh. This article shows that the use of one or other approach brings different conclusions mainly those related to the role of absolute and relative prices on relevant market definition.