Publications
E.CA Economists publish regularly in academic journals, competition and regulation journals and the more popular business press. We speak frequently at conferences, workshops and symposiums.
Gigabit Access: Germany Lags behind in International Comparison but Demand Is Low
Deutschland muss seine Digitalstrategie überdenken, um den Anschluss nicht zu verlieren: Editorial
Enrollment and Degree Completion in Higher Education without Admission Standards
Consumer Valuation of Fuel Costs and Tax Policy: Evidence from the European Car Market
Market definition in multi-sided markets
Vincent Verouden presented at the Antitrust Enforcement in Digital Markets: Training for National Judges. Enforcement in the framework of Article 101 TFEU, in Budapest on 4-5 June 2018.
Recent economic applications in EU merger control: UPP and beyond
More than a decade since the introduction of the ‘significant impediment to effective competition’ test (SIEC test) in the EU, refined economic methods have become increasingly relevant to the evaluation of mergers. This paper addresses three of the more important assessment methods in this context: the UPP (upward pricing pressure) method, the analysis of ‘natural experiments’ and the analysis of bidding data.
Keywords: bidding data, economic analysis, market definition, merger contro, natural experiments, SIEC - Test, UPP
Pre-Contractual Information and Billing in the Energy Market: Improved Clarity and Comparability
Environmental State aid – study for the German ministry on ex-post evaluation
The EU Commission recently introduced new obligations for the ex-post evaluation of State aid schemes for member states. To prepare for upcoming submissions to the Commission the German Federal Ministry for the Environment and the associated Environmental Agency engaged E.CA Economics (Dr. Hans W. Friederiszick, Dr. Linda Gratz, Dr. Michael Rauber, Dr. Daniel Streitz) and the law firm Redeker Sellner Dahs (Dr. Simone Lünenbürger, Dr. Gero Ziegenhom, Dr. Andreas Rosenfeld, Dr. Ulrich Karpenstein) for an interdisciplinary research project on ex-post evaluations of environmental aid. To assess the probability with which the Commission would request an ex-post evaluation of an environmental State aid scheme, the team designed a novel warning system. Moreover, a roadmap helping to steer the organisation, scope and timing of an ex-post evaluation by the ministry was developed. The most important methodical issues when carrying out an ex-post evaluation were explained using examples of environmental aid schemes. The legal analysis included the data-protection framework and the requirements regarding the expert`s independency for upcoming ex-post evaluations.
Keywords: state aid
Reverse privatization as a reaction to the competitive environment: Evidence from solid waste collection in Germany
Juri Demuth, Hans W. Friederiszick and Steffen Reinhold have published a working paper exploring the motives for reverse privatisation of the provision of solid waste collection services by German municipalities. Using a unique panel data set the authors show that municipalities do not only react to cost advantages of private companies but also to the competitive environment.
Keywords: Competition law enforcement, Local privatisation, Logit regression, Mergers, State-owned enterprises