On 17 January, Commissioner Vestager hosted a one-day conference on ‘Shaping competition policy in the era of digitisation’. As well as providing inputs to the conference on market power in digital, data and algorithmic competition, several members of Oxera’s team attended the event. Our reactions to the four main themes are summarised below. Competition,
Oxera is delighted to have two Agenda articles nominated for the 2019 Antitrust Writing Awards. The aim of the Antitrust Writing Awards is to promote competition scholarship and to contribute to competition advocacy. The jury contributes to this achievement by selecting the best writings published in 2018. Discover our nominated Oxera articles: Dr Gunnar
Oxera is delighted to announce that Peter Culham has joined as an Associate. Peter is an experienced regulatory and competition economist who has spent the majority of his career in the communications sector. He joined the Government Economic Service in 1979 and worked in a number of government departments, including Transport, Environment and Defence, before
Oxera is pleased to note that the Italian Competition Authority has accepted the legal and economic arguments put forward by Kedrion and Grifols regarding their joint bid for the collection of donated blood and the manufacture and supply of plasma-based drugs to Italy’s National Health Services. Pascale Déchamps, Partner, and Roberto Alimonti, Senior Consultant, advised
On 13 January 2019, Sole 24 Ore, a major Italian daily newspaper specialising in business and economic news, published an article about the impact of a government nationalisation proposal in the Italian water sector. The article describes how regulatory intervention has contributed to growth in investment levels over the last five years, and presents a
Nicole Robins, Partner and head of Oxera’s State Aid practice, was invited to be a guest editor of a special edition of the European State Aid Law Quarterly journal focused on Ex Post Monitoring and Evaluation. Nicole wrote the foreword: Ex Post State Aid Analysis: First Impressions, describing the increasing focus on ex post control
As government policy, regulation and competition law all aim to make a positive difference for consumers, it is crucial to have a common understanding of what constitutes a consumer benefit. To date, consumer outcomes have been considered mainly in terms of price, quantity, quality, innovation and choice. However, Tim Hogg, Oxera Consultant, argues that advances in technology mean that authorities should consider an additional set of holistic consumer outcomes, including relationships, fairness, truth, and privacy
Does modern economics value the work of men more than women, and if so, what can be done about it? The traditional approach to economics prioritises fee-earning work rather than unpaid housework and caring duties, which are undertaken largely by women. Sarah Long, Partner, Euclid Law, discusses the benefits of incorporating this unpaid contribution into competition law internationally
In the digital services market, platform operators compete for the attention of consumers. However, there are increasing concerns about their degree of market power, which can be difficult to assess using the traditional tools of competition and regulation. As calls for further regulation increase, authorities must ensure that their interventions do not lead to unintended consequences, such as reducing the gains that such platforms bring to society
Oxera is delighted to announce that the Autorità di Regolazione dei Trasporti (Italian Transport Regulation Authority) has appointed Andrew Meaney, Partner and head of Oxera’s Transport team, Dr Leonardo Mautino, Partner and head of Oxera’s Regulation team, and Dr Srini Parthasarathy, Principal and joint head of Oxera’s Efficiency practice, as their expert economics and finance