Portrait of Laila AitBihiOuali

Dr Laila AitBihiOuali : Senior Consultant

Laila is an applied economist specialising in competition economics and econometrics. She has experience in merger control, competition litigation, and regulatory analysis, combining economic theory with empirical methods to assess market dynamics and competitive effects.

Her work spans several sectors including transport, energy, digital markets, and environmental policy. She has applied econometric techniques to support competition assessments, including pass-on estimation, as well as regulatory and policy evaluations for both public and private sector clients.

Prior to joining Oxera, Laila held academic positions at Imperial College London and the University of Southampton, and worked as a consultant for the World Bank on projects covering transport, urban development, labour markets, and digital policy.

Laila speaks English, and French.

Tel: +44 2030 065611

Laila's specialisms include:

Selected
professional experience

  • Providing economic advice in the context of a global consumer goods merger, including the assessment of competitive effects (2025–)

  • Conducted economic analysis in a competition litigation case in the trucks sector (2024–2025)

  • Providing litigation support in competition cases, including collective actions and digital platform investigations (2024–)

  • Conducted economic analysis in the context of a proposed transport merger in Europe, including the assessment of environmental benefits (2025)

  • Provided economic advice to a major UK energy company on regulatory rules (2025)

  • Provided economic support in the context of regulatory determinations in the UK water sector (2024)

Selected
publications

  • Ait Bihi Ouali, L., Awad, F.A., Graham, D. and Singh, R. (2023), ‘Performance of urban rail transit: a review of measures and interdependencies’, Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, 43:4, pp. 698–725, July.

  • Ait Bihi Ouali, L. and Klingen, J. (2022), ‘Inclusive roads in NYC: gender differences in responses to cycling infrastructure’, Cities, 127:3, pp. 1–13, May.

  • Ait Bihi Ouali, L. (2020), ‘Effects of signalling tax evasion on redistribution and voting preferences: evidence from the Panama Papers’, PLOS ONE, 15:3, pp. 1–22, March.

Qualifications

  • PhD Applied Economics and Econometrics, Aix-Marseille University

  • MSc Economics, Paris School of Economics

  • BSc Economics, University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne