Speakers

David Balan (Federal Trade Commission)

Competitive effects of hospital mergers (session: Health Care)

David Balan is an economist at the Federal Trade Commission. He has worked on a variety of antitrust matters across different industries, including many of the Commission’s recent hospital merger cases, as well as the North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners case. He has published papers on a number of topics in applied microeconomics. In 2013-14, he served as a Senior Economist for the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. He received his PhD in Economics from the University of Illinois in 2000.

Paolo Buccirossi (LEAR)

Ex-post analysis of Dutch supermarket merger (session: Competition)

Paolo Buccirossi is the Director and founder of Lear. Paolo has been working in the field of competition policy since 1994. After five years spent as an economic advisor at the Italian Competition Authority, Paolo set up Lear in 1999. Since then he has advised private clients and public institutions on a wide range of competition issues before the European Commission and several national competition authorities. Paolo has also worked for several governments and competition authorities (Bulgaria Lithuania, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, UK, Brazil, European Commission). He holds an MSc in Public Economics and a PhD in Economics awarded by the University of Rome La Sapienza.

Carlo Cambini (Politecnico di Torino)

Analysis of investments in electricity networks in Europe (session: Telecom and Energy Regulation)

Carlo Cambini is Professor of Industrial Organization and Regulation at the Politecnico di Torino and economic member of the Scientific Committee of the Florence School of Regulation, EUI. His research focuses on industrial economics, regulatory economics and competition policy with a strong background in telecommunications, energy markets and transportation. He won the award as best Young Economist at the International meeting of the European Association of Researcher in Industrial Economics (EARIE). His work has been published in leading scientific journals such as the RAND Journal of Economics, Journal of Industrial Economics, Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, International Journal of Industrial Organization.

Henk Don (ACM)

Henk Don is member of the Board and vice-Chair of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), and vice-Chair of BEREC (Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications). Prior to this, Mr. Don was a member of the Board and vice-Chair of the Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa) from October 2009 until 2013. Mr. Don worked for the CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB) in The Hague from 1978 to 2006, interrupted by a period of one year in which he worked for the University of Pennsylvania. From 1994 until 2006, Mr. Don was director of the CPB. In addition, Mr. Don was part-time professor in economics at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) from 1990 to 1999, and he was a professor in econometrics and economic policy at the Erasmus School of Economics (Erasmus University) in Rotterdam from 2006 to 2009.

Tomaso Duso (DIW Berlin and Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE))

Ex-post evaluation of competition policy enforcement in energy markets: The E.ON abuse of dominance case (session: Telecom and Energy Regulation)

Tomaso Duso is head of the Department Firms and Markets at the DIW Berlin and he is professor of empirical industrial economics at the Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE) of the Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf. Tomaso earned a PhD cum laude from the Humboldt University Berlin in 2002. His research interests are in the area of applied econometrics in the fields of industrial organization, competition policy, regulation, and management. Tomaso has advised several public bodies, such as various DGs of the European Commission, the UK Competition Commission, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets, and the OECD on competition policy issues.

Chris Fonteijn (Chairman of ACM board)

Chris Fonteijn is the chairman of the Board of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). Prior to this, Mr. Fonteijn was chairman of both the Commission of the Netherlands Independent Post and Telecommunications Authority (OPTA), and of the Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa). Mr. Fonteijn was a lawyer at the Rotterdam-based law firm NautaDutilh from 1980 until 2005, where he was promoted to partner in 1988. At NautaDutilh, he specialized in energy and corporate law, and held various positions. In his final years at NautaDutilh, he directed the Energy & Utilities Group. In his capacity of chairman of the Commission of OPTA, he sat on the board of IRG (Independent Regulators Group) and that of BEREC (Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications) between 2008 and 2011. In 2011, he was chairman of both of these international bodies.

Mariëlle Jansen (Dutch Centre for Crime Prevention and Safety (CCV))

Measuring compliance (session: Consumer Protection)

Mariëlle Jansen is senior consultant Research & Development at the Dutch Centre for Crime Prevention and Safety (CCV), where she is occupied with the accompaniment and realization of policy research on crime- and safety issues. She is co-author of the report Effecten van Toezicht & Handhaving meten (Measuring Effects of Inspections and Enforcement) and teacher in the course Measuring effects of Inspections and Enforcement.

Ron Kemp (ACM)

Quality effects at hospital mergers (session: Health Care)

Ron Kemp is a senior economist at the office of the Chief Economist at Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). In 2016, he joined the Taskforce Healthcare of ACM with a focus on quantitative market studies. From 2000 – 2014 he held a part-time position as assistant professor of the Management Studies Group at Wageningen University. Dr. Kemp earned his PhD degree in Business from the University of Groningen in 1999. Research interests include policy analysis, impact assessments and European competition law. He has published amongst others in European Journal of Health Economics, De Economist, Journal of Competition Law and Economics, International Journal of Research in Marketing and Food Policy.

Kai-Uwe Kühn (University of East Anglia and Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE))

Prof. Kühn is Professor of Economics and Deputy Director of the Center for Competition Policy at the University of East Anglia and Visiting Professor at the Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf. From May 2011 to August 2013, Prof. Kühn was Chief Economist at DG Competition of the European Commission, leading 25 economists involved in merger, antitrust, litigation, state aid and policy work. Prof. Kühn is a Research Fellow of the Center for Economic Policy Research in London and has been the co-editor of the Journal of Industrial Economics. His research interests cover theoretical, experimental, and empirical industrial organization.

Massimo Motta (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona GSE and former DG Competition)

Evaluating the effectiveness of interventions of DG Competition

Massimo Motta is ICREA Research Professor at Universitat Pompeu Fabra and the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics. He served as Chief Competition Economist at the European Commission from 2013 to 2016. He has published in the leading international economic journals and his book on Competition Policy: Theory and Practice (Cambridge University Press, 2004) is the standard international reference on the economics of antitrust.

Arno Rasek (Bundeskartellamt)

Ex-post analysis of packaging waste market de-monopolization (session: Competition)

Arno Rasek has been Chief Economist at the Bundeskartellamt since 1 March 2016. He joined the authority in 2002 after working in the strategy department of a multinational company. The positions he has held at the Bundeskartellamt include desk officer in the International Competition Matters Unit, rapporteur for the waste management industry and most recently rapporteur for the electricity sector in the 8th Decision Division and head of the Energy Monitoring Working Group.

Pierluigi Sabbatini (Italian Competition Authority (AGCM))

Pierluigi Sabbatini is senior economist and head of the Economic Evaluation Committee at the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM). At the AGCM he also served in the research department and several investigative units (insurance, banking, retailing, and food). He is currently working on screening tests for bid rigging and the assessment of the impact of competition policy enforcement. He has authored several articles and books on a variety of competition law enforcement topics, including market delineation, coordinated effects of mergers, impact assessment, bid rigging, and fines.

Anton Schwarz (Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunications (RTR))

Ex-post analysis of two mobile operator mergers in Austria (session: Telecom and Energy Regulation)

Anton Schwarz has a degree in economics from the University of Vienna and stared to work at the economics division of the Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunications in 2002. His main responsibilities are market analyses of fixed network markets. He was also involved in a project concerning the ex post analysis of mobile mergers with the EC and ACM and in the ex post analysis of the 2013 merger between Hutchison and Orange in Austria.

Jarig van Sinderen (Chief Economist ACM)

Jarig van Sinderen is Chief Economist at the Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM). He is also part time professor in Economic Policy at the Erasmus School of Economics Rotterdam. From 2003 till 2006 he was Deputy Director General for Statistics at Statistics Netherlands. For a long time he worked at the Ministry of Economic Affairs (1982-2001). Before he specialized in competition economics, impact analysis and strategy, he was involved in supply side economics, in innovation policy, industrial policy and in tax policy. Jarig has published and still publishes on these subjects. Recently he wrote on the developments of Dutch competition policy, and on cartels and productivity growth in the Netherlands.

Johannes Spinnewijn (London School of Economics)

Evaluating policy interventions in health insurance markets (session: Health Care)

Johannes Spinnewijn is currently a Lecturer in Economics at the London School of Economics. His research is on various topics in public economics, including the design of social insurance and tax systems. An important theme in his work is the design of policies when people are subject to behavioural biases. In 2015 he won the British Academy’s annual Wiley Prize for outstanding early career achievement in research. Johannes is a Co-Editor of the Journal of Public Economics and affiliated with the CEPR and the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Prior to joining LSE, he completed his PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Borbála Szathmáry (Competition and Markets Authority CMA))

Borbála Szathmáry is an Assistant Director of Economics in the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Prior to joining the CMA she was working for the Office of Fair Trading. Borbála has worked on a wide range of areas including competition and consumer enforcement, mergers and market studies. She was Head of Economic Research and Evaluation of the CMA between September and 2014 and April 2016.

Christian Thorun (ConPolicy)

Measuring consumer detriment and improving consumer policy (session: Consumer Protection)

Prof. Dr. Christian Thorun is the managing director of the Institute for Consumer Policy (ConPolicy) in Berlin. He is a recognized expert in consumer policy, a member of the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection's (BMJV) network of consumer research and he advises the European Commission on consumer issues. In addition Christian works as a Professor of Political Science, International Relations and Public Affairs at the Quadriga University of Applied Sciences Berlin. Before founding the institute, he was active at the Federation of German Consumer Organizations in Berlin. Christian studied and received his doctorate at Oxford University in the Department of International Relations.

Tommaso Valletti (Chief Competition Economist of DG Competition, Imperial College London and University of Rome “Tor Vergata”)

Assessing (some) digital policies

Tommaso Valletti is the Chief Competition Economist. He is Professor of Economics at Imperial College Business School, and also Professor of Economics at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. He has a magna cum laude degree in Engineering from Turin and holds a MSc and a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics. Tommaso’s main research interests are in industrial economics, regulation, and telecommunications economics. Tommaso is a Fellow of CEPR and of ENCORE. He was a member of the panel of academic advisors of Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, as well as a member of the panel of academic advisors of the UK Competition Commission. He was a board director of Consip, the Italian Public Procurement Agency. Besides economics, he is a keen flute player.

Wendy Verdonk-Kleinjan (Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA))

Impact assessment of a new intervention approach for kebab entrepreneurs (Session: Consumer Protection)

Wendy Verdonk works as a specialist advisor at the staff department of the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA). She works on the development of surveillance strategies and is specialized in evaluation and impact assessment and in influencing behaviour. She supervises impact assessment projects in the supervisory practice and coordinate effect measurements of enforcement tools. Wendy obtained her doctoral degree at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences from the University of Maastricht with the dissertation "impact assessment of the tobacco legislation".