David J. Balan is a Managing Director whose pro-enforcement practice specializes in developing and litigating antitrust cases.  Prior to joining Econ One Dr. Balan served as a staff economist at the Federal Trade Commission for over twenty years. He is best known for his work on the FTC’s hospital merger enforcement agenda, both in helping to develop the economic theory and quantitative methods that underlie many of the Commission’s recent cases, and in working as the lead staff economist on many of those cases. He has also served as the lead staff economist on many merger cases in other industries, as well as on a variety of non-merger matters.

His extensive litigation experience includes key roles in the following well-known litigated cases:

• Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Corporation and ENH Medical Group, Inc. | Federal Trade Commission (ftc.gov)
• North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners, The, In the Matter of | Federal Trade Commission (ftc.gov)
• OSF Healthcare System, and Rockford Health System, In the Matter of | Federal Trade Commission (ftc.gov)
• St. Luke’s Health System, Ltd, and Saltzer Medical Group, P.A. | Federal Trade Commission (ftc.gov)

Dr. Balan has also had key roles in many cases that got close to litigation before the parties abandoned or settled. He was selected twice to serve as a testifying expert for the FTC, but in both cases the parties abandoned.

Dr. Balan spent 2013-14 as a Senior Economist for President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, working mostly on competition issues related to electromagnetic spectrum auctions and net neutrality. He also spent two years from 2018-2020 as a part-time economic adviser to FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra. He has been a productive researcher, publishing articles in both academic journals and policy publications, as well as a frequent presenter in multiple forums both inside and outside the FTC.

Read what leading members of the antitrust community are saying about Dr. Balan and his practice at Econ One.

Featured Articles

Labor Noncompete Agreements: Tool for Economic Efficiency or Means to Extract Value from Workers?

Labor Practices Can Be an Antitrust Problem Even When Labor Markets Are Competitive

Merger-Specificity of Quality and Cost Efficiencies in Hospital Merger Cases 

A Retrospective Analysis of the Clinical Quality Effects of the Acquisition of Highland Park Hospital by Evanston Northwestern Healthcare

Soon to be published in the Journal of Industrial Economics: Simulating Hospital Merger Simulations