News

The work and analyses produced by E.CA is widely recognised and discussed by renowned newspapers and broadcasters. Please scroll through the following list to explore recent coverage and relevant firm news.

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20.08.2015
Hidden Efficiencies: The Relevance of Business Justifications in Abuse of Dominance Cases

Hans W. Friederiszick and Linda Gratz published an article in the Journal of Competition Law & Economics.

This article assesses the relevance of efficiencies and other justifications in recent Article 102 TFEU cases. Based on a review of all EU decisions and openings between 2009 and mid-2013, we find that procompetitive justifications still play an unsatisfactory role in the EU Commission’s evaluations, except in IT-related abuse cases. This stands in contrast to the policy goals expressed during the reform phase (from 2005 to 2009), the Guidance Paper, and the increasing relevance of efficiency considerations in merger proceedings. We argue that this development is due to a malfunctioning of the balancing test—that is, the weighting of pro- and anticompetitive effects, as pro- and anticompetitive effects are often non-separable and non-monotone in Article 102 TFEU cases. Policy options are discussed, and it is argued that a fully integrated analysis is the only policy option fully addressing the problem.

 

08.05.2015
E.CA Expert Forum on Digital Dominance

 

3rd E.CA Competition Law and Economics Expert Forum

8 May 2015 in Brussels

This half day conference on Digital Dominance focused on “How to deal with Internet giants”.
It offered an overview of and insight into recent developments in competition law and economics in the digital economy. The focus was on the emerging market power of large Internet-based platforms in media, search and online distribution, and on the competition policy issues this raised.

More information on the event here.

22.01.2015
Survey on European antitrust litigation post EU Directive

Hans W. Friederiszick and Michael Rauber published an article in the January issue of CPI Antitrust Chronicle analyzing antitrust litigation in Europe following the EU Directive on Antitrust Damages. The multi-jurisdiction landscape in Europe, paired with partial, but incomplete harmonization across Europe and correct, but complex economic damages concepts, is likely to lead to interlinked multinational damages actions in Europe, the authors argue.

View the external abstract here.

Download the article

12.01.2015
E.CA promotes in Brussels

E.CA Economics has promoted German national Lars Wiethaus to director in Brussels.

Lars Wiethaus joined E.CA Economics in 2008 after having worked for a UK-based economic consulting firm. In 2012 he opened the Brussels office of E.CA Economics which he is now leading jointly with director Vincent Verouden.

Download the press release.

16.12.2014
New publication on rivalry in a duopoly

E.CA staff member Juri Demuth has published a paper on signalling rivalry in a duopoly, jointly with Helmut Bester (Freie Universität Berlin) in the Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade. When a new competitor with a publicly unknown quality enters a market, the prices of both the incumbent and the entrant might be informative of the entrant’s quality. In the paper it is shown that under the chosen belief refinements prices signal the entrant’s quality only in a two-sided separating equilibrium and are identical to the full information outcome.

The paper is available here.

11.12.2014
New publication on price concentration studies on European mobile telecom markets

Rainer Nitsche published an article together with Pauline Affeldt analyzing the relationship between prices and concentration in European mobile telecom markets.

The paper is available here.

21.11.2014
New publication on upward pricing pressure analysis in the Journal of European Competition Law and Practice

Rainer Nitsche and Lars Wiethaus published an article on the application of upward pricing pressure analysis in the Journal of European Competition Law and Practice. The authors draw from their experience in the European Commission’s practice in recent mobile telecoms mergers.

The article is available here.

10.11.2014
E.CA report on cross-country price comparisons in retail grocery

This brief focusses on the methodological issue of the proper measurement of retail food prices. While measuring the prices of individual products seems preferential from a methodological point of view, the discussion often evolves to cover much broader categories such as “food products” in general, which necessarily involves some aggregation of the underlying disaggregated raw data. A trade-off then arises between using a narrow but accurate or a broader but imprecise measure. The available empirical price data are interpreted in light of these conceptual limitations.

Read the report here.

16.10.2014
Vincent Verouden, former Deputy Chief Economist, joins E.CA

Dr Vincent Verouden, a Dutch national and until recently the Deputy Chief Economist at DG Competition at the European Commission, is joining E.CA’s Brussels office as a director. With more than 15 years of experience at DG Competition and a deep insight and knowledge of all competition matters, his move to E.CA will strengthen E.CA’s position in the Benelux and European markets.

Link to press release (EN/DE/NL)

18.07.2014
New E.CA study on the methodology for assessing overcompensation of public services in the German bus sector.

The study on behalf of DB Regio AG (Sparte Bus) identifies aspects which can determine the level of the appropriate return for bus companies receiving public service compensation. Furthermore, the study estimates the appropriate return levels on the basis of publicly available revenue data for the bus sector.

Read the study here.

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