Since 2014, OnPoint has had the pleasure and honor of working with Dr. John Connor. This year, Dr. Connor announced that he will be retiring from active expert testimony work.
Dr. Connor is commonly regarded as one of the world’s top researchers in cartel studies. He is a Senior Fellow in the American Antitrust Institute which in 2014 awarded him the Alfred E. Kahn Research Award for Lifetime Achievement. When presenting that award, AAI Director Robert Lande described Dr. Connor’s work on cartels as “nothing short of revolutionary” and Dr. Connor himself as “without any doubt the leading cartel researcher and scholar the world has ever known.” In fact, his cartel work is so widely recognized that Dr. Connor is frequently referred to as the “King of Cartels” or the “Cartel Hunter.”
Chief among Dr. Connor’s contributions to the field are his price-fixing overcharges dataset and his award-winning book Global Price Fixing. His price-fixing overcharge dataset is the only one of its kind in existence. Compiled by Dr. Connor since 2005, it contains more than 2,000 overcharge estimates for cartels that existed between 1699 and the present. These overcharge estimates were collected by Dr. Connor from over 500 professional publications and legal decisions dating from 1888. His book Global Price Fixing received two national writing awards in 2002 and 2003, with new editions released in 2007 and 2008. A review of the book in the Journal of Economic Literature described it as “…an invaluable reference for those with a deep interest in the economics of cartels, and a very readable and accessible narrative…on international cartels.”
Dr. Connor is also the author of 19 books and monographs and more than 600 other scholarly publications in economics and law. His research has been cited in more than 75 law-review articles, and in five court decisions. A leading academic economist, Dr. Connor joined Purdue University’s Department of Agricultural Economics in 1983, where he taught industrial and antitrust policy. As a Professor at Purdue, his research focused on international cartels, corporate strategies, price formation, performance outcomes, and the interplay of private decision making with antitrust law and other public policies that influence competition, primarily in the food manufacturing and distribution industries. In 2009, his lifetime achievements were recognized when he was awarded the title of Fellow, the highest honor of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
As an expert witness, Dr. Connor has testified in a wide range of competition matters. During his time at OnPoint, Dr. Connor worked on cartel cases involving milk and dairy products, food-processing chemicals, aftermarket automotive sheet metal parts, natural gas trading, electrical capacitors, and heavy trucks, among other matters.
Dr. Connor is highly respected by his clients. Ike Diel of Sharp Law wrote: “I have worked with John for over 20 years. His knowledge of cartel behavior is second to none. He is an outstanding economic expert but more importantly a true gentleman and friend. I wish him all the best in retirement.”
John also remains incredibly popular with the staff of OnPoint. Kind and generous, with a great sense of humor and a love for good conversation, we will very much miss working with him. We understand that John will continue to research and write, and we hope to collaborate with him on that in the future. We wish him nothing but the best.