Agenda Archive

Investment appraisal in the round: why MCA?

February 2021

Multi-criteria analysis (‘MCA’) is a set of methods, techniques and tools that considers multiple objectives and criteria to support decision-making. It takes a broader perspective than cost–benefit analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis, which stress monetary considerations. MCA is set to play a greater role in investment appraisal as increasing emphasis is placed on having clear strategic links to policies, ‘levelling up’, and stewardship of the environment. Oxera Senior Adviser, Dr Rupert Booth, here considers the motivations for the use of MCA and some of its many techniques

Data-enabled learning: policy implications

February 2021

Despite superficial similarities, data-enabled learning does not necessarily create network effects, and when it does, data network effects are usually weaker and less conducive to lock-in than standard network effects. In this article, Andrei Hagiu, Associate Professor of Information Systems at Boston University, and Julian Wright, Oxera Associate and Professor of Economics at the National University of Singapore, consider how policies that aim to correct market inefficiencies associated with data-enabled learning (such as mandatory data-sharing by incumbents or data privacy restrictions) have unintended consequences that may end up hurting customers overall

Collective bargaining agreements for the self-employed

February 2021

The growth of self-employment and the so-called ‘gig economy’ enabled by the rise of digital platforms (and digitalisation more broadly) offers new opportunities for those who prefer flexible working arrangements, while at the same time creating challenges—such as decreased...

The role of sustainability in merger control

February 2021

The recent focus on sustainability in the context of coordination agreements and in state aid cases1 has now spread to merger control.2 This Today’s Agenda article addresses how sustainability fits into the merger assessment framework and what we can...

If data is so valuable, how much should you pay to access it?

February 2021

In the second of a series of articles about digital markets,1 we turn to focus on data access. Governments around the world have proposed that digital firms be required to provide access to some of their data. This is...