The Effect of Competition Policy on Economic Inequality

The Leverhulme Trust has awarded funding to a group of researchers at the University of Oxford to conduct a study on the relationship between competition policy and wealth distribution. The project’s overarching aim is to develop a better, and empirically grounded, understanding of the ways in which competition law legislation, and its enforcement, could materially affect the distribution of wealth and economic inequality. It aims to provide clarity as to the role competition policy could play alongside other policies, in addressing social inequality.

The project team includes: Prof. Ariel Ezrachi, Dr. Christopher Decker and PhD candidate Amit Zac. In the next two years the team will utilize empirical methods and apply them to rich data sets, to shed light on the link between competition policy and wealth distribution. The study will include cross-country analysis on a panel data of competition laws and economic factors, as well as a time-series study looking at key jurisdictions, including the United States and the European Union.

The study group will benefit from the support of an international steering committee that includes: Professor Bill Kovacic (Kings College, GWU and Competition and Markets Authority); Professor Amelia Fletcher OBE (UEA and Competition and Markets Authority); Professor Tomasso Valletti (Imperial College, formerly DG Competition); Professor Andy Eggers (Oxford), and Ms Teresa Moreira (UNCTAD), Ms. Ania Theiman (OECD).

For further details see project website: https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/effect-competition-policy-economic-inequality

Also note new position for part-time economic researcher on wealth distribution:
https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BYZ905/part-time-economic-researcher-wealth-distribution