Agenda Archive

Water company mergers: further developments in the pipeline?

January 2016

The water industry in England and Wales is unique in being subject to a ‘special merger regime’. Recently the UK government has sought to bring this regime more into line with the general merger regime that applies in other sectors in the UK. Meanwhile, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has undertaken an inquiry into the Pennon acquisition of Bournemouth Water. What are the implications of these developments for the scope for water company mergers?

You can’t put a value on friendship. Or can you?

January 2016

What are the economic impacts of befriending people? In December 2015 Oxera completed a pro bono project for the St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP), which looked at the economic impacts arising from befriending. While it was not possible to robustly quantify all of these impacts, our analysis nonetheless suggested that society benefits by approximately £3 for every £1 spent by the SVP

Going with the stream: a new chapter for the music industry

January 2016

Streaming music at home, at work, or ‘on the go’ has become the norm for many consumers in the last few years. Several companies now offer ad-supported or subscription services in most countries. What are the differences between these streaming services, and how have they affected legal and illegal music downloads?

Foreign exchange trading: is it time to say goodbye to ‘Last Look’?

January 2016

Since 2013, the foreign exchange (FX) market has been the subject of regulatory investigations resulting in more than US$10bn in fines globally. ‘Last Look’, a feature of some electronic FX venues, has been under increasing regulatory scrutiny amidst concerns around the impact on end-users of FX trading markets. Oxera Associate, Álvaro Cartea, discusses his recent academic work in this area carried out with colleagues Sebastian Jaimungal and Jamie Walton