1.  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  1.1  The ESRC Centre for Competition Policy at the University of East Anglia is an interdisciplinary group of economics, law, management and political science scholars, funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council as a 10 year research centre. The initial grant for 2004 to 2009 is for £3.2 million. The Centre disseminates its academic research through regular peer reviewed academic channels, has an international visitor programme and runs conferences, workshops and seminars throughout the year. Because of the subject matter, most of our activities involve a mixture of about 60% academics and 40% policy makers from both the public and private sectors.

  1.2  ESRC funding for the Centre facilitates international collaboration on a number of different levels, encouraging the discovery of global solutions for global competition challenges. Moreover the position of the Centre as an academic institution independent of stakeholders (including states, regulatory authorities, business and pressure groups) enables us to provide analysis and advice on a completely disinterested basis. In an area such as competition policy with very large stakes and pressure from powerful international bodies, both public and private, such independence is crucial to assessing appropriate solutions. In this context we set the agenda for our own research, rather than having directed research, which might bias both questions and the answers.

  A major theme in the evolution of competition policy in recent years has been the convergence of analytical practice. In particular, most national and international authorities have been putting economic analysis centre stage at the expense of national legal idiosyncrasies. One example is the European Commission, where the chief economist's team was established in 2003 and is now doubling in size. This trend means that our policy advice has international application and is recognised as such.

  1.3   Questions related to competition policy are inherently international, and are explored by the community of international scholars of which we are a part. This international academic peer group provides a benchmark for the quality of our research. As a result, considerable formal and informal exchange is arranged through the Centre. As well as exploring issues and suggesting solutions, we are able to build capacity in areas where competition and regulation policy are just emerging, and build such capacity independent of local interests or international funding bodies.

  1.4  The Centre funding facilitates both research which crosses national boundaries, using data from several countries and addressing international issues; and a number of international collaboration activities. International research includes work on the reform of Competition Law and practice in Europe, comparisons with US and Canadian practices, study of regulatory reform overseas and a major project on the reform of electricity in South East Europe. These include a visitor programme for overseas scholars to the Centre, presentations overseas at international conferences by members of the Centre, support for international travel for research/engagement purposes by Centre members, and collaborative research and support, particularly for doctoral students, to attend academic events at the Centre.

2.  EXAMPLES OF INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION ACTIVITIES FUNDED BY ESRC

  2.1  The first arena for collaboration arises from the research subject matter itself, and we provide a number of examples of areas in which this involves direct collaboration with colleagues overseas. The first is reform of EU Competition Law and its application, and the modernisation programme which delegates implementation of that Law to member states. The Centre is holding an international conference on this topic in June 07. Second, CCP is editing a book on the economic analysis of competition cases from authorities across Europe. This project involves authors from the USA, UK, Denmark, France, Spain, Belgium, Singapore and Switzerland. Third, a recently completed project on EC Merger Remedies was jointly funded by the ESRC and DG Enterprise and Industry, resulting in a forthcoming book with strong policy recommendations. The collaboration facilitated access to material that is not normally available to academics, while allowing a depth of academic analysis that would not otherwise have been feasible.

  2.2   The fourth is a major research project on reform of the electricity sector in South East Europe, an issue of considerable political and international interest, where the Centre is able to take a disinterested academic view. The first stage of this is a book, whose chapters are co-authored by members of the Centre, a co-editor who is based at the US Department of Justice, and academics and practitioners from the countries concerned. As well as thematic chapters, the issues of specific countries in the region are addressed. Participants from nine countries (Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Slovenia, Turkey, Greece, Montenegro and Macedonia) are actively involved. A workshop to be held in Romania in July 2007 will involve local regulators as well as authors. Moreover authors are visiting the Centre between February and April to present a series of seminars and discuss their papers and the issues with the CCP team, helping to build capacity in the region and encouraging an academic discussion of intrinsically complex and political issues. We have visited the relevant EU officials who are overseeing this reform, and they have welcomed and encouraged our research. Further fieldwork in the region will be funded through the Centre grant as the project develops after the Romania workshop.

  2.3  The fifth direct involvement is in working with authors from overseas, where ESRC funding has enabled fruitful collaboration with the US, both through their dedicated joint scheme with the American equivalent, and through providing funding for research related travel by members and visitors. One example of such collaboration arises in collaboration between the Centre and Professor Greg Shaffer (University of Rochester, USA) on the effects of price guarantees offered by firms to consumers. The work which has already been completed is well cited in the literature and has also been cited in the international press (New York Times). Professor Shaffer has been an associated member of the Centre since its foundation. The centre and its funding, together with a specific grant under the joint visitor programme funded by the ESRC and the American Social Science Research Council, have enabled us to attract Professor Shaffer to visit for extended periods in 2006 and 2007, and we are expecting to make this a recurrent event. The benefits of having Professor Shaffer visiting while his co-author is on buy-out are very significant, because both are available at the same time to make progress on joint research. Although much can be accomplished via email, finding overlapping research time and being in the same location makes a huge difference to what can be achieved.

  2.4  Having an international scholar visiting the centre has many additional benefits. We organise discussion groups related to the research expertise of the visitor. In the case of Shaffer the topic was buyer power. This enables new research questions to emerge, with a speedier assessment of their importance than is possible by distance correspondence. We also encourage colleagues in general and research students in particular to pass drafts of their paper to the visitor for comments and suggestions. For example, Shaffer provided valuable feedback to several of the doctoral students at a critical stage of their studies.

  2.5  International collaboration is also evident in the management of the Centre. The Centre's Advisory Board and Academic Committee include several distinguished overseas academics, including professors from Trinity College Dublin, the Haas Business School and the Department of Economics at University of California at Berkeley. These colleagues facilitate the Centre's research and links overseas through their support and advice.

  2.6  The Centre has a thriving visitor programme. Since the establishment of the Centre in September 2004, we have hosted 35 international visits, 9 of these have been long term (longer than 1 week). Of these, 26 have been from European countries, 7 from USA and 2 from elsewhere in the world. We have highlighted the benefits of such visits in the case of a continuous relationship with one leading American academic. More generally these visits help to further our research programme through discussion and debate; inform our members about international research and raise the profile of the centre in international organisations. (See Appendix for a list of our international visitors.)

  2.7  The initial stage of most research findings is that they are written up as a working paper which is available with a non technical policy briefing or an executive summary on the web. This is available to an international audience. In March our website statistics showed that 38.92% of visitors to the website were in South Africa, 23.41% from the United States and 2.10% from China, for example. A monthly email bulletin alerts those who have signed up to such postings, and 29% of the recipients are overseas. A twice yearly hard copy newsletter is mailed (as well as being available electronically) and 31% are sent to overseas addresses.

  2.8  As part of the dissemination of our research, members present their papers at international conferences. Since the establishment of the Centre, members have given 58 international conference presentations, including 4 invited, key-note presentations. The Centre ensures it has a strong presence, with a number of members presenting, at key competition related conferences including the Association of Competition Law and Economics, the Association of Competition Economists and the Association of Research in Industrial Economics.

  2.9  Centre members are also invited to present their findings to policy makers overseas, for example recent visits have been made to Sweden, Italy, Hungary and Brussels. While such invited visits are usually paid for by the host, Centre funding gives us a base from which to disseminate our findings, and provides underwriting for such expenses. A more formal on-going role in international advice is provided by one senior member of CCP who is on the Economic Advisory Group for Competition Policy at the European Commission. For example, he is currently leading a small team of four eminent economists from across Europe who will provide a short independent (unfunded) opinion on the reform of rescue and restructuring aid guidelines.

  2.10  In addition to travel to conferences etc, the Centre funds travel for research purposes. Three examples of this are: the visit to Brussels of researchers on the South East Europe Electricity project to undertake a series of interviews with EU officials; the funding of a week in Florence for a PhD student to undertake archive searches on original European Community documentation to assist understanding of the intentions of the founders in drafting the original competition provisions; and funding a PhD student for a two month visit to Washington to compare the relationship between the Federal and state governments in the US in implementing competition policy, with the corresponding relationships between the European Union and its members states.

  2.11  ESRC funding is enabling CCP to explore the establishment, jointly with the University of Tilburg, of a network of Centres employing law and economic disciplines to facilitate joint research and the exchange of staff, particularly at a junior level.

  2.12  The core funding for the Centre from the ESRC has enabled us to respond flexibly to opportunities, and to develop an independent research programme with crucial international dimensions. While some of these (for example capacity building) are likely to coincide with the objectives of other funding sources (in this case Department for International Development) our core funding has enabled us to establish research and build capacity much more independently and flexibly in our early years, with benefits to the quality of the research and the value of the training. Now that we are well established, we will continue to take such independent initiatives, while building on the initiatives which core funding has provided to explore parallel funding, including opportunities within the EU framework programme. The table in the appendix indicates where outside funding has already been used for past international activities.

April 2007