Brasília, September 24, 2025 — Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) has published a new working paper exploring how economic methodologies can be applied to judicial rulings and competition policy decisions.
The study, titled “Economic Analysis of Judicial and Competition Decisions in Brazil: Methodologies and Applications”, is the result of a technical cooperation agreement signed in April 2024 between CADE and the Supreme Federal Court (STF). The agreement aims to expand information-sharing, conduct joint research, and improve measurement of the economic impacts of judicial and antitrust decisions.
The paper examines how tools of economic analysis can be integrated into the Brazilian judiciary, particularly within the STF, and in competition enforcement. It outlines ex-ante and ex-post evaluation methods, illustrated with case studies such as tax enforcement, healthcare litigation, and merger control reviews.
It also draws on international experiences from jurisdictions including the United States, European Union, Canada, Australia, and Colombia, highlighting both the benefits and challenges of incorporating economic reasoning into legal decision-making.
The STF’s Núcleo de Processos Estruturais e Complexos (Nupec), created in 2023, has been a key step in embedding economic analysis into high-impact cases. “Nupec has sought to integrate economic assessments into the Court’s decisions, and this partnership with CADE reinforces that effort by expanding the capacity to evaluate real economic and social impacts,” said Guilherme Resende, special advisor to the STF Presidency.
At CADE, the Department of Economic Studies (DEE) has become a reference point in applying economic methodologies to investigations of anticompetitive conduct and merger reviews. “This partnership with the STF shows how integrating economic analysis — whether ex-ante or ex-post — enhances decision-making and extends positive impacts beyond competition policy into other areas of society,” noted Lílian Marques, CADE’s Chief Economist.
According to the study, applying economic analysis to law helps make judicial and administrative decisions more efficient, transparent, and forward-looking, with the ability to anticipate significant socioeconomic impacts. Officials expect the working paper to serve as a reference for continued STF–CADE cooperation and to guide future research and institutional practices in Brazil.
The full document is available on the authority’s website.
