Allocation of indirect costs
There is no right or wrong way to allocate indirect costs, only good or bad ways of supporting policy objectives, either of the company itself or an industry regulator or competition authority. This article reviews the many allocation options, before proposing a process for selecting the most promising option… Read More
Grey or Green Giants? Sustainability and (Exclusionary Abuse of) Dominance under Article 102 TFEU
The intersection of sustainability and competition law has gained increasing attention in recent years—particularly in the context of agreements, as evidenced by the new Horizontal Co-operation Guidelines from the European Commission,1 but also in discussions around merger control.2 However, one area remains underexplored: the role of… Read More
Podcasts
Collective actions: are consumers reaping the benefits?
When companies engage in price fixing, abuse their market dominance, or form illegal cartels, consumers and businesses can suffer but since 2015 in the UK and 2020 across the EU, collective actions are challenging these anti-competitive practices and are seeking compensation. Many of us may even be members of a… Read More
Should the UK’s digital regulator play in the sandbox?
Governments of developed countries around the world are looking for ways to stimulate economic growth. Common approaches are to look to either reduce regulatory blockers to innovation or intervene in markets to make them more competitive. Digital markets have been one of the fastest growing sectors of the global economy,… Read More
Blending incremental costing in activity-based costing systems
Allocating cost fairly across different parts of a business is a common requirement for regulatory purposes or to comply with competition law on price-setting. One popular approach to cost allocation, used in many sectors, is activity-based costing (ABC), a method that identifies the causes of cost and allocates accordingly. However,… Read More
The European growth problem and what to do about it
European growth is insufficient to improve lives in the ways that citizens would like. We use the UK as a case study to assess the scale of the growth problem, underlying causes, official responses and what else might be done to improve the situation. We suggest that capital market… Read More
How can and should economic regulation contribute to growth?
Will reducing or changing economic regulation kickstart our economy? As policymakers across Europe seek ways to boost economic performance, the role of regulation is under the spotlight. Should economic regulators actively promote growth, or does their core purpose lie elsewhere? In the UK, recent government pressure on regulators to support… Read More
The 2023 annual law on the market and competition: new developments for motorway concessions in Italy
With the 2023 annual law on the market and competition (Legge annuale per il mercato e la concorrenza 2023), the Italian government introduced several innovations across various sectors, including motorway concessions. Specifically, as regards the latter, the provisions reflect the objectives of greater transparency and competition when awarding motorway concessions,… Read More
Assessing the state of play of women’s football
Women’s football has been experiencing fast and sustained growth and is rapidly increasing in popularity around the world, both in terms of participation and viewership. The evidence suggests that this is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. The second report in the Play Forward series… Read More
How can greater gender diversity improve business performance?
Why should businesses support gender diversity? Oxera and Business in the Community (BITC) have worked together to research the business case for gender equity and diversity. Their findings reveal that companies with higher diversity report increased sales revenue, expanded customer base, and greater profit margins than their competitors. These organisations… Read More