Uncovering the truth behind the data

Evidence-based expertise

Whether they’re being made in the boardroom or the courtroom, good decisions rely on good evidence. Understanding what data to collect, how to analyse it, and how to draw out the relevant insights is vital to providing evidence that decision-makers can rely on. 

Our Analytics team has extensive experience of providing data-led causal and predictive insights using methods from the fields of econometrics, statistics, data science, simulation and experimental design. Our multidisciplinary approach enables us to harness the best of these methods and apply our expertise in numerous sectors and geographies.

We hold ourselves to the highest standards. That’s why you can trust our analysis to stand up to rigorous scrutiny from legal teams and board members.

Evidence through applications of analytics

Our multidisciplinary Analytics and Data Science team comprises econometricians, statisticians and data scientists. We embed these specialists in our project teams, enabling you to benefit from a blend of cutting-edge analytics and our vast sectoral, economics and finance expertise—giving robust and accurate answers to your most pressing questions.

With a deep understanding and wide experience of using analytical methods, our experts have a track record of assessing individual and corporate responses to different events—such as illegal activity, market entry, new regulations, and changes in policies and taxes. We have delivered analytical evidence in a variety of contexts, such as:

• providing evidence to the UK CMA on the appropriateness and robustness of different forecasting approaches and techniques; 
• modelling the impact of different distribution strategies for a global automotive manufacturer, using simulation tools; 
• estimating how much of a cost shock was passed on to consumers in a litigation context; 
• quantifying the impact of illegal collusion on outcomes, such as prices, in the market; 
• assessing the impact of price changes on consumer welfare; 
• designing experiments to collect data or assess the impact of a change in a policy; 
• quantifying the efficiency of utility companies in the context of price regulation; 
• forecasting air traffic using a blend of econometric and data science methods, for example following the COVID-19 pandemic; 
• simulating social responses to the introduction of new policies; 
• using interactive simulations to stress-test energy pricing regulation; 
• conducting a behavioural experiment to test the Digital Markets Act’s impact on innovation across the EU; 
• identifying drivers of rising health and safety issues following the pandemic for a national infrastructure operator; 
• testing the robustness of a brand valuation using advanced data science techniques in a litigation context. 

Transparent and impactful delivery

Often, when designing a new policy or strategy, you’ll find that the perfect solution does not exist. We use analytical methods to help decision-makers understand trade-offs in an accessible manner and communicate the best possible insights effectively and transparently. This could involve:

• building engaging visuals to present analytical outcomes clearly and succinctly; 
• designing and developing interactive dashboards and web applications to empower decision-makers to perform their own analysis privately while still drawing from our expertise in real time; 
• auditing analytical processes, identifying areas for improvement and transparency, and supporting clients in implementing these. This could be in advisory or adversarial contexts. 

Analytical models developed specifically for you enable you to understand the impact of changes in your firm or market, whether you’re measuring how retail consumers are using banking services, exploring how different users interact with smartphone features, or predicting when new entrants will meet regulatory thresholds.

Making the best use of data

• Data fuels our analytics expertise, so we treat it with care at every stage of our work. We combine datasets to obtain a holistic economic view, using a mixture of on-premises and cloud technologies to:
• securely extract, transfer, store and process data in compliance with data protection regulations and guidelines; 
• fuse internal business data and external sources, including proprietary Oxera datasets and case-specific unique datasets generated using webscraping, experiments or market research; 
• validate data to ensure it is fit for purpose; 
• enrich data using alternative sources of information, such as reviews, complaints or transcripts; 
• extract insights from data regardless of its type and size efficiently and effectively; 
• share our work and insights with you interactively and transparently. 

Our expertise

Our Partners, Principals and Associates are world-leaders in their fields, collaborating with renowned academics to produce best-in-class results. See below for a snapshot of our Analytics leaders and their advisory and expert experience.

• Dr Helen Jenkins (Partner)—ran live regression code in a court trial
• Alan Horncastle (Partner) and Prof. Subal Kumbhakar (Associate)—co-authored the definitive book Stochastic Frontier Analysis: A Practitioner’s Guide to Stochastic Frontier Analysis using Stata (Cambridge University Press, 2015)
• David Jevons (Partner)—gave evidence in the context of a regulatory appeal on the robustness and suitability of different forecasting techniques and processes proposed by the parties
• Andrew Meaney (Partner)—used data science tools to advise an infrastructure operator on the changing drivers of health and safety issues post pandemic
• Kimela Shah (Principal)—used data science tools to understand changes in the behaviour of air passengers during the pandemic and characteristics of the population of a nation to improve their income taxation forecasts
• Dr Walter Beckert (Associate)—provided evidence to Judicial Review on the statistical robustness of evidence used to decide on the funding for education of children with special needs

We've always been happy with Oxera’s work product and, at their best, that would be a 10.

- Magic Circle Law Firm, UK