competitiontoolbox

competitiontoolbox is an R package that runs the competitiontoolbox RShiny web application, which is a browser-based user interface for functionality embedded in the antitrust and trade R packages.

An accessible public instance of the competitiontoolbox web interface is located here.

Why competitiontoolbox?

competitiontoolbox provides researchers and practitioners with an easy-to-use interactive environment that introduces a variety of merger simulation models encountered in antitrust frameworks. The app provides a useful launching point for users interested in conducting their own merger simulation analyses.

Features

The app allows users to

• simulate horizontal and vertical mergers, tariffs, and quotas assuming various competitive environments and market demand forms
• input specific market characteristics such as product prices, margins, output, and assumed market elasticity
• numerically simulate thousands of horizontal and supply chain mergers to view distributions of market outcomes
• copy auto-generated R code that runs the inputted simulation

For more details concerning the models used in the app, consult the antitrust package vignette.
For more details concerning the numerical simulations included in the app, consult Taragin and Loudermilk (2019) and Sheu and Taragin (2021).

Usage

library(competitiontoolbox)
ct_shiny()

This will open the competitiontoolbox web interface and the user will be greeted by the Introduction tab. Users may proceed to the Mergers, Trade, Numerical Simulations, or Other Resources tabs. All tabs are self-contained and provide directions on how to proceed.

Dependencies

antitrust
trade
shiny
rhandsontable