Event Synopsis: Compass Lexecon Economics Conference 2023

On 22 September 2023, Compass Lexecon hosted its second Economics Conference at Wadham College, Oxford, UK with the theme “Competition economics and industrial organisation, and the scope for novel techniques and analysis in this area”.

Senior Vice President and Head of Research, Joe Perkins, opened the conference by discussing the importance of connecting practitioners of competition policy with the academics that study it.

Joe noted that in recent years, the use of economic analysis has been viewed with increased scepticism by some competition authorities and commentators. He stressed the need to keep applying economic techniques to the profound real-world challenges faced by lawmakers and practitioners, and that there are many interesting areas where academic research has important gaps to fill in our knowledge. Economic analysis will, rightly, continue to play a key role in competition policy decisions, and it is incumbent on both practitioners and researchers to ensure that decisions are based on the best-possible evidence.

The Compass Lexecon Economics Conference aims to bring together economists in competition authorities, regulators, academia and industry, to share ideas and recent work in order to understand where research is needed and where current research exists that can be put to practical applications.

The conference included 14 research paper presentations and two keynote speeches, spanning a range of important topics across competition policy, and concluded with a panel discussion on the economics of monopsony power. Access the full synopsis below for links to papers and a summary of the panel discussion.

Agenda

Welcome dinner address

• Pekka Sääskilahti, Compass Lexecon

Introductory speech

• Joe Perkins, Compass Lexecon

Keynote speech

• Natalia Fabra, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
  • Competition among renewable energies

Paper Session 1

• Chair: Angelos Stenimachitis, Compass Lexecon
• Gaétan de Rassenfosse, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
  • Machine learning methods for predicting patent commercialization and infringement
• Yassine Lefouili, Toulouse School of Economics
  • Ecosystems and complementary platforms

Paper Session 2

• Chair: Paul Armstrong, Compass Lexecon
• Joel Kariel, Competition and Markets Authority
  • Returns to scale and aggregate productivity
• Luise Eisfeld, HEC Lausanne
  • Entry and acquisitions in software markets

Paper Session 3

• Chair: Peter Ormosi, Compass Lexecon
• Paul Hünermund, Copenhagen Business School
  • Double machine learning and automated confounder selection
• Alexander Kann, ZEW Mannheim
  • Estimating demand and conduct with text-based brand representations: Evidence from the US beer market

Paper Session 4

• Chair: Sander Heinsalu, Compass Lexecon
• Guillaume Thébaudin, Telecom Paris, Institut Polytechnique de Paris
  • Interoperability between ad-financed platforms with endogenous multi-homing
• Pietro Azzali, Compass Lexecon
  • Dominant ecosystems and innovation slowdown

Paper Session 5

• Chair: Kristofer Hammarbäck, Compass Lexecon
• Howard Smith, University of Oxford
  • The evolution of concentration, market power, and surplus in retail markets
• Peter Ormosi, Compass Lexecon
  • Recommender systems and competition on subscription-based platforms
• Jake Kramer, University of Maryland
  • Mitigating poor performance in Medicare Advantage through M&A

Paper Session 6

• Chair: Kadu Prasad, Compass Lexecon
• Alexandre de Cornière, Compass Lexecon and Toulouse School of Economics
  • Third-degree price discrimination in two-sided markets
• David Myatt, London Business School
  • Adopting a stance or taking a stand? Shaping product demand via corporate political positions
• Alexei Parakhonyak, University of Oxford
  • Dynamic consumer search

Keynote speech

• Jenny Haydock, Competition and Markets Authority
  • The economics of digital regulation

Panel discussion: Monopsony Power

• Chair: Joe Perkins, Compass Lexecon
• Alan Manning, London School of Economics
• Ana Sofia Rodrigues, Portuguese Competition Authority
• Christoph Wigger, Bundeskartellamt
• Nadine Watson, Compass Lexecon

You can find the full conference synopsis, including links to the speakers’ presentations and papers below.

Read the full synopsis

All speakers spoke on their own behalf expressing solely their own views that cannot be regarded as representing an official position of their respective institutions. The views expressed are those of the speakers or authors only and do not necessarily represent the views of Compass Lexecon, its management, its subsidiaries, its affiliates, its employees, or clients.