EMEA THE ANALYSIS
Economic analysis can clarify even the most intractable issues, to inform better decisions. Here we bring the best that economics has to offer without bias: setting out what is and isn’t known, and what needs to be considered when there is no consensus.

FROM THE EDITOR
In The Analysis, we consider the complex challenges that businesses and policymakers face, and demonstrate the light that economic analysis can shed on them – albeit partially – to inform better decisions and advance important debates.
In this edition, our economists:
• Review studies on the impact that four-to-three mergers between mobile telecom operators have had on consumers, and find that many improved service quality without increasing prices;
• Examine the European Commission’s assessment of all benefits presented by merging parties in the past decade, and offer insights that parties need to consider; and
• Look at the potential effects of price announcements to show the importance of analysing whether or not pro-competitive motivations better explain potentially harmful conduct.