Past CCRP workshops
Past CCRP workshops and roundtables
CCRP Roundtable 14th March 2019
The Round Table on 14th March 2019 on the topic “Financial & Financing Structures of Infrastructure Networks: Should Regulators be Active in Regulating These, and, If So, How Far?” marked the commencement of the academic collaboration between CCRP and CARR (LSE) in running Competition and Regulation.
The meeting looked at whether infrastructure industry regulatory agencies should regulate the Financial and Financing Structures of the industries for which they are responsible, if so, how far should they go in doing so. Among the issues covered were:
Should regulators be more active over the financial structures that regulated companies choose to adopt than they have been in the past and, if so, why?
Should regulators be more active regulating the returns earned by regulated companies within regulatory periods than they have been in the past and, if so, why?
Pre-2010, infrastructure industry regulators said that these issues were not of concern provided that regulated companies delivered on output, efficiency and cost targets. What has led to this view being changed? Does it mean the effective demise of RPI-X regulation?
Round Table Chair: Jon Stern, Honorary Professor, CCRP.
Panellists: Professor Julian Franks, London Business School, Professor Martin Lodge, CARR, LSE, Cathryn Ross, Director of Regulatory Affairs, BT Group, Plc, Thomas Sharpe QC, Barrister, One Essex Court, Mary Starks, Executive Director, Ofgem.
CCRP Roundtable 26th October 2018
The Centre for Competition and Regulatory Policy in collaboration with OXERA run a highly successful and influential high-level Round Table with the topic "New Insights into competition regulation and consumer protection" with a stellar cast of panellists on 26 October 2018. These included:
- Adam Farkas, The Executive Director of the European Banking Authority
- Professor Amelia Fletcher, OBE. Amelia is a Professor of Competition Policy at the University of East Anglia. She also sits on the board of the Financial Conduct Authority and was appointed Non-Executive Director of the Competition and Markets Authority on 1 October 2016.
- Professor Paul Grout (Bristol University). Paul is also a Non-Executive Director of Ofgem (the UK energy regulator), a member of Ofgem's Remuneration Committee and the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee, Chair of Ofgem's RIIO2 (i.e., networks regulation) Committee as well as the Senior Advisor for Competition at the Bank of England and a member of Ofcom's (the UK regulator of communication industries) Academic Panel.
- Mary Starks, The Executive Director of Ofgem (previously the Chief Economist at the FCA).
The panellists looked at the demand sides and remedies in competition, the most fundamental technological changes facing competition regulation (including fintech and block chain developments), the long run issues of competition in financial services and their implications for consumer protection, as well as what lessons can be transferred across the use of financial regulation to utilities regulation and vice versa. The Roundtable was a highly successful event with a large number of attendees from regulatory bodies, senior practitioners from consultancies, academics and PG students. Following some compelling presentations by the panellists the event was followed by a very lively discussion and questions from the floor. Please click here for the slide attachments of the talks by Amelia Fletcher and Adam Farkas.
CCRP Roundtable 1st February 2018
The February 2018 CCRP Annual Competition Policy Round Table took place at City University of London in the Northampton Square campus on 1st February 2018. This year’s topic was “Competition Policy in Troubled Times”.
The Roundtable looked at the increased scepticism concerning the performance of markets in terms of the outcomes in consumer welfare, income inequality and protecting vulnerable customers. There are questions surrounding the political consensus for competition law, whether competition economics is still producing a sound basis for effective decisions, whether competition law is fit or purpose and if not, what do about it.
The background for the discussion is based on the revival of interest in activist industrial policy and the role of national “strategic” objectives and other public policy concerns vis-a-vis competition.
There is a number of related readings connected to the panellists’ talks and the discussion that followed:
Inequality and competition, Bruce Lyons, 2017
Why does competition (still) matter? David Currie, 2017
What has competition law done for the UK? What can it do for Channel Islands? Peter Freeman, 2017
Carl Shapiro (2017) Antitrust in a time of populism (October 2017)
Philip Blond (2017) Markets and new monopolies Res Publica
Round table chair
Jon Stern, Honorary Visiting Professor, CCRP, City University of London
Panellists
- Cristina Caffarra, Head of European Competition, Charles Rivers Associates
- David Currie, Chairman, Competition and Markets Authority
- Peter Freeman CBE QC (Hon), Chairman, Competition Appeals Tribunal
- Martin Lodge, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, LSE
- Bruce Lyons, Professor of Economics, Centre for Competition Policy
- University of East Anglia
CCRP Roundtable 6th July 2017
A summer CCRP Roundtable took place at Cass Business School on Thursday 6th July 2017. The topic was “Brexit and the Future of UK Economic Regulation; Key Issues and Challenges” and it served as a continuation of the coverage by the January Roundtable by shifting the focus from Competition Policy to the implications of Brexit on Economic Regulation.
The Round Table was conducted under Chatham House Rules, and was opened by the Dean of the School of Arts and Social Sciences, Theo Farrell.
Jon Stern was the acting Chair, with panel contributors Martin Cave (Imperial College Business School), Dan Elliott (Frontier Economics), Dermot Nolan (UKRN), Thomas Sharpe QC (One Essex Court) and Catherine Waddams (University of East Anglia).
CCRP Roundtable 19th January 2017
The January 2017 CCRP Annual Competition Policy Round Table took place at Cass Business School on Thursday 19th January. The January Round Table's topic was “Brexit and the Future of Competition Policy; Key Issues and Challenges”.
The Round Table was conducted under Chatham House Rules, and was opened by the Dean of the School of Arts and Social Sciences, Theo Farrell.
Jon Stern was the acting Chair was the acting Chair, with panel contributors Antonio Bavasso (Allen & Overy), Andrea Coscelli (CMA), Helen Jenkins (Oxera), Mary Starks (FCA) and Helen Weeds (CCRP Associate & CRA).
CCRP Roundtable 21st January 2016
CCRP's winter 2016 competition policy roundtable was this year hosted by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Thursday 21 January 2016.
The January Round Table’s topic was “Competition Policy, Markets and Social Obligations in a Digital World". Jon Stern was the acting Chair, with panel contributors: Alex Chisholm (CMA), Xeni Dassiou (City, University of London), Amelia Fletcher (UEA), Eliana Garces-Tolon (European Commission), David Stewart (Towerhouse) and Jonathan Oxley (Ofcom).
The Chairman’s comments are available to download as well as a copy of the slides from the points raised by CCRP’s director Xeni Dassiou during the Round Table.
Read Alex Chisholm’s (CMA Chief Executive) full address at the CCRP 2016 Competition Policy Roundtable.
19th CCRP Roundtable and National Audit Office Presentation: Public Service Markets, 22nd January 2015
The January 2015 CCRP workshop took place at City University, in Room C309, Tait Building. See the programme including times and details of the panellists and speakers for the morning Round Table (11:00-13:00) and the NAO afternoon (14:00-16:00) event. A list of the participants and the presentation slides are available to view.
18th CCRP Workshop, July 2014
The summer 2014 CCRP workshop was hosted by the Department of Applied Economics of Universitat Autonoma Barcelona, Spain on the 11th (afternoon) and 12th (all day) July 2014. View the programme of the workshop.
The British Regulation Model: Beyond Competition and Incentive Regulation? March 2014
Joint one day conference: CARR (LSE), CCRP and the IEA. 31st March 2014
The Littlechild Report was published just over 30 years ago. As utility regulation in the UK is moving into established middle age, how has the legacy fared in the UK, the EU - and globally?
The one-day conference considered the impact of the Littlechild Report on thinking about the regulation of telecommunications, electricity, water and other utility industries. It also left a significant policy impact with a legacy that includes independent regulatory institutions, incentive-based regulation and a focus on the role of competition. The contemporary age of utility regulation is characterised by considerable uncertainty about its direction. Regulatory instruments and strategies as well as the role of competition are under challenge across sectors and jurisdictions. Similarly, the boundaries that distinguish independent regulatory and competition authorities from other organizations and from government policy have become more blurred, while the landscape of regulated firms has also changed considerably.
The conference considered the legacy of the Littlechild Report in the context of the UK, the wider OECD, and the developing world. A number of themes emerged. One was the realisation about both the potential of extending competition in utilities, as well as the persistence of the need to regulate certain monopoly aspects. A second aspect was the growing attention paid to co-ordination among sectoral regulators, and among sectoral regulation and competition policy more generally. A third aspect was the role of consumers, including whether and far they could contract directly with utilities. Furthermore, the boundary lines between regulation and politics clearly remain contested. The sessions on the wider OECD and the developing world pointed to varied experiences, noting how regulatory institutions were very much a product of particular political institutions and pre-requisites.
17th CCRP workshop January 2014
The Winter 2014 CCRP workshop was hosted by City University London on the afternoon of Thursday 23rd January and Friday 24th January 2014. Click here to view the programme for the workshop. As part of the workshop a two hour competition policy roundtable was held at 11:00 on Friday regarding the role of concurrency and the relationship between CMA and the sectoral regulators from April 2014 onwards. A summary document on the roundtable will be produced in March 2014.
The roundtable was chaired by Emeritus Professor John Cubbin and the panelists included:
- Lord Currie (Chairman, Competition & Markets Authority)
- Luis Correia da Silva (Managing Director - Oxera)
- Peter Freeman CBE, QC (Chairman, Competition Appeal Tribunal)
- Jon Stern (Senior Visiting Fellow, CCRP)
- Catherine Waddams (Professor of Regulation ESCR Centre for Competition Policy, UEA)
- Roger Witcomb (Chairman - Competition Commission).
View the panelists' short bios.
16th CCRP workshop July 2013
The CCRP Summer 2013 Workshop took place at the Department of Economics, Quantitative Methods and Business Strategy at the University of Milan-Bicocca in Milan, Italy, on the afternoon of Thursday 11 & 12 July 2013.
15th CCRP workshop January 2013
The CCRP Winter 2013 Workshop was hosted by the Department of Economics at City on the afternoon of Thursday 24 January and all day on Friday 25 January 2013. View the programme for the workshop.
As part of the workshop a two-hour competition policy roundtable was held at 11:00 on Friday regarding the future of the UK competition regime. The 2013 Round Table focused on market investigations both currently under the CMA (Competition Markets Authority) from 2014 onwards. The panellists included:
- Lord Currie (Chair designate, Competition and Markets Authority)
- Peter Freeman CBE, QC (Chairman, CAT)
- Thomas Hoehn (Visiting Professor, Imperial College London & Competition Commission panel member)
- Derek Ridyard (Partner, RBB Economics)
- Mary Starks (Senior director, OFT)
- Roger Witcomb (Chairman, Competition Commission)
The Round Table was chaired by Emeritus Professor John Cubbin (represented on the day by Jon Stern, CCRP Senior Visiting Fellow). See the programme of the Round Table and a list of participants, and view a summary report.
14th CCRP workshop July 2012
The 14th CCRP Workshop took place at the WU Vienna University of Economics and Business in Austria on Thursday 12 (afternoon) and Friday 13 July 2012.
The Workshop was co-organised by the Research Institute for Regulatory Economics in WU and CCRP. See the event programme and a list of the names of the conference participants. View some of the presentations and/or papers.
13th CCRP workshop January 2012
The 13th CCRP Winter 2012 Workshop took place at the Department of Economics, City University London on Friday 20 January 2012. See the event programme and view some of the presentations and/or papers.
As part of the workshop a two-hour Round Table was held at 11:00 on the future of the UK's competition regime which focused on the government's competition regime change proposals. The panellists included:
- Professor Bruce Lyons (Professor of Economics, University of East Anglia and CCP)
- Amelia Fletcher (OFT)
- Peter Freeman (CAT)
- Mark Williams (NERA)
- Roger Witcomb (CC).
The Roundtable was chaired by Emeritus Professor John Cubbin. See the programme of the Round Table, a list of the participants and a summary of the discussion.
A separate by-invitation-only event on Water Policy and Regulation in England & Wales was sponsored by OFWAT and the Environment Agency and took place on 19 January 2012. See a programme of the event, and a list of the invited panellists and audience.
12th CCRP workshop July 2011
The 12th CCRP workshop took place in the afternoon of 7 July and all day on 8 July 2011. The Summer 2011 workshop was organized jointly with the IFP School Centre for Economics and Management and took place at the Centre of Economics & Management of the IFP School, Rueil-Malmaison/Paris. Please click for a copy of the workshop programme (pdf), or view some of the 12th CCRP workshop presentations and/or papers.
11th CCRP workshop, February 2011
The 11th CCRP workshop took place on Friday 11 February 2011. The workshop was hosted by the Aston Centre for Critical Infrastructure and Services (ACCIS) at the Aston Business School in Birmingham. The CCRP workshop was preceded by an ACCIS workshop on Thursday 10th entirely dedicated to the Water and Sewage industry and in particular the current debate on the restructuring and regulatory reform of the sector in England & Wales.
Please click for a copy of the workshop programme (pdf), a list of the workshop participants (pdf) and the bios of the paper presenters (pdf).
10th Workshop in Competition and Regulatory Policy, City University London
The 10th CCRP workshop took place at City University London on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 July 2010.
The summer program (pdf) and list of participants (pdf) can be found here.
9th Workshop in Competition and Regulatory Policy, University of Munich, Germany.
The 9th CCRP workshop took place at the Institute for Communication Economics (ICE) of the University of Munich (LMU) on Saturday 16 January 2010.
8th Workshop in Competition and Regulatory Policy, Aston Business School, Birmingham
The summer 2009 workshop on Competition and Regulation took place at Aston Business School in Birmingham and was hosted and organised by the Economics and Strategy Group on Thursday 9 July and Friday 10 July 2009.
7th Workshop in Competition and Regulatory Policy, City University, London
The winter 2009 workshop on competition and regulation took place at the School of Social Sciences at City University on Friday 23rd January 2009.
6th Workshop in Competition and Regulatory Policy, City University, London
The summer 2008 workshop on competition and regulation took place at the School of Social Sciences at City University on Thursday 10 and Friday 11 July 2008.
5th Competition and Regulatory Policy Workshop, ULPGC (Gran Canaria)
The fifth workshop took place on Friday and Saturday the 25 and 26 of January 2008.
The programme can be found here.
4th Workshop in Competition and Regulation, University of Surrey (London)
The CCRP's fourth winter workshop on competition and regulation took place at the University of Surrey, Guildford, UK on Thursday 18 and Friday 19 of January 2007.
A variety of papers were contributed covering areas such as Telecoms, Financial Regulation and Electricity Markets.
3rd Workshop in Competition and Regulation, City University (London)
The CCRP organised the third workshop on competition and regulation at the Department of Economics at City on Monday and Tuesday, 3 and 4 July, 2006.
The workshop programme had three sessions: Regulation Infrastructure and Commitment, Issues in Competition Policy and Electricity and Networks.
2nd Workshop in Competition and Regulation, IESE (Barcelona)
The CCRP and the Public-Private sector research centre (SP-SP) at IESE (Barcelona) organised a workshop on competition and regulation on Monday 19 December 2005.