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Biography
Ariel Ezrachi is the Slaughter and May Professor of Competition Law and a Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford. He serves as the Director of the University of Oxford Centre for Competition Law and Policy.
He is co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Antitrust Enforcement (OUP) and the author, co-author, editor and co-editor of numerous books, including Competition Overdose (2020, HarperCollins), Virtual Competition - The Promise and Perils of the Algorithm Driven Economy (2016, Harvard), EU Competition Law - An Analytical Guide to the Leading Cases (6th ed, 2018, Hart), Global Antitrust Compliance Handbook (2014, OUP), Research Handbook on International Competition Law (2012 EE), Intellectual Property and Competition Law: New Frontiers (2011, OUP), Criminalising Cartels: Critical Studies of an International Regulatory Movement (2011, Hart), Article 82 EC - Reflections on its recent evolution (2009, Hart) and Private Labels, Brands and Competition Policy (2009, OUP).
His recently published papers focus on the digital economy, e-commerce, parity clauses, marketplace bans, vertical agreements, buyer power and the limits of competition law. They include the award winning papers 'Sponge', 'Artificial Intelligence & Collusion', and 'Sustainable and Unchallenged Algorithmic Tacit Collusion'. He is also author of the BEUC consultation paper on 'EU competition law and digital economy' and co-author of the report on 'Digital Platforms' (Stigler Center, Chicago University, Booth School of Business) and the Independent Expert Report on Digitalisation and its Impact on Innovation (EU Commission).
His research and commentary have been featured in The Economist, The New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Guardian (opinion), The Guardian, Nikkei, Times Higher Education, Harvard Business Review, HBR (2), Berkeley Technology Law Journal, Chicago University Pro Market, New Scientist, Politico, Politico-pro, Politico-Tec, China Daily, OBLB, WIRED, Click - BBC, BBC Radio 4, CPI, Bloomberg, Concurrences, GCR, The Scotsman, The Times, Sunday Times, Fast Company, Nesta, NewStatesman, UNCTAD, OECD, Forbes, Factor, The Australian, NRC 2016, NRC 2018, Business Insider, CMS Wire, Workology, Cited, IAI, Les Echos, ACCC, ZDnet, Financial Express, CLI, Sina, Project-syndicate, and other international outlets.
His work on algorithmic collusion (together with Prof Stucke) has been central to policy discussions in international organisations and competition agencies (including, among others, the CMA, OECD, UN, ICN, House of Lords, Monopolkommission, Autorite de la concurrence and the Bundeskartellamt).
He is part of a reserch project on Competition Policy and Economic Inequality, funded by the Leverhulme Trust.
Prof. Ezrachi develops training and capacity building programmes in competition law and policy for the private and public sectors, including training programmes for European judges endorsed and subsidised by the European Commission. He is an Academic Advisor to the European Consumer Organisation - BEUC, member of the Independent Committee on Digital Platforms, member of UNCTAD Research Partnership Platform, and a former Non-Governmental Advisor to the ICN.
Publications
Recent additions
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Maurice Stucke and AE Ezrachi, Competition Overdose - How Free Market Mythology Transformed Us from Citizen Kings to Market Servants (HarperCollins 2020) Using dozens of vivid examples to show how society overprescribed competition as a solution and when unbridled rivalry hurts consumers, kills entrepreneurship, and increases economic inequality, two free-market thinkers diagnose the sickness caused by competition overdose and provide remedies that will promote sustainable growth and progress for everyone, not just wealthy shareholders and those at the top. Whatever illness our society suffers, competition is the remedy. Do we want better schools for our children? Cheaper prices for everything? More choices in the marketplace? The answer is always: Increase competition. Yet, many of us are unhappy with the results. We think we’re paying less, but we’re getting much less. Our food has undeclared additives (or worse), our drinking water contains toxic chemicals, our hotel bills reveal surprise additions, our kids’ schools are failing, our activities are tracked so that advertisers can target us with relentless promotions. All will be cured, we are told, by increasing the competitive pressure and defanging the bloated regulatory state. In a captivating exposé, Maurice E. Stucke and Ariel Ezrachi show how we are falling prey to greed, chicanery, and cronyism. Refuting the almost religious belief in rivalry as the vehicle for prosperity, the authors identify the powerful corporations, lobbyists, and lawmakers responsible for pushing this toxic competition—and argue instead for a healthier, even nobler, form of competition. Competition Overdose diagnoses the disease—and provides a cure for it. The book was listed as one of Inc. Magazine top business books you need to read in 2020 and one of Publishers Weekly Top 10 Business & Economics books for Spring 2020.AE Ezrachi and Viktoria H.S.E. Robertson, 'Competition, Market Power and Third-Party Tracking' (2019) World Competition The prevalence of third-party tracking in our modern ecosystem cannot be ignored. Trackers, on our websites and apps, enable multi-sourced data gathering, at distinct volume, velocity, verity and veracity. While operated by numerous operators, the majority of these trackers are controlled by a handful of data giants. In this paper we consider the rise and growth of this industry, the power it has bestowed on a handful of operators, and the possible implications to consumer welfare and competition.AE Ezrachi and (co-authored by a group of contributors) , Stigler Committee on Digital Platforms (Chicago University 2019) Subcommittee on Market Structure and Antitrust This working group came together to address specific problems arising from the digital platforms’ reach, scale, scope, and use of data. We were asked to examine concerns stemming from the market structure contemporary platforms have created, and to investigate their competitive behavior, including the consequences of network effects that can create barriers to entry for new innovators and entrench incumbents. The global nature of many of today’s platforms, a result of their scale, scope, and business models, creates novel complexities and considerations, particularly a concern that the digital platform may be a unique combination of economic forces that require both new analysis and new public policy. Regulatory authorities throughout the world are now turning their attention to these same questions. This report contributes to this international analytical project by providing some of the necessary frameworks and inputs. We intend it to be a complement to other recent work, as experts across the world wrestle with how to ensure that markets remain open and healthy, allowing beneficial technological and social advancements to continue. Many of our conclusions and suggestions echo the findings of reports that have come out in the past year, and we hope they will be helpful to those reports not yet released. The list of antitrust experts and agencies working on this problem includes Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, the European Commission, France, Israel, and Japan
Book (15)
Internet Publication (7)
Report (3)
Journal Article (41)
Chapter (12)
W (2)
Case Note (1)
Centres
Research programmes
Research projects
Research Interests
Competition Law
Options taught
Competition LawNews articles for Ariel Ezrachi

Digitalisation and its impact on innovation

New book co-authored by Ariel Ezrachi

The Effect of Competition Policy on Economic Inequality

Law Faculty lecturers nominated in Oxford's Student Led Teaching Awards

EU Competition Law Goals and the Digital Economy
Blog posts by Ariel Ezrachi

Contemplating COVID-19 and Competition—Returning to the Rat Race or Aspiring for Something Nobler?
By Ariel Ezrachi, Pembroke College | Maurice Stucke, Institute of European and Comparative Law
Oxford Business Law Blog
Enforcing European Competition Law in a Global Digital Economy
By Ariel Ezrachi, Pembroke College | Agustin Reyna
Oxford Business Law Blog
Putting Technology to Good Use for Society: The role of corporate, competition and tax law
By John Armour, Faculty of Law | Ariel Ezrachi, Pembroke College | Luca Enriques, Faculty of Law | John Vella, Faculty of Law
Oxford Business Law Blog
Competition, Market Power and Third-Party Tracking
By Ariel Ezrachi, Pembroke College | Viktoria Robertson
Oxford Business Law Blog
2016-2017 Oxford Business Law Blog Round-Up: Most Read Opinion Pieces
By John Armour, Faculty of Law | Horst Eidenmüller, St Hugh's College | Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Mansfield College | Luca Enriques, Faculty of Law | Ariel Ezrachi, Pembroke College | Cheng Lim | Bruno Meyerhof Salama | Calum Sargeant | TJ Saw | Maurice Stucke, Institute of European and Comparative Law
Oxford Business Law Blog
The E-Scraper and E-Monopsony
By Ariel Ezrachi, Pembroke College | Maurice Stucke, Institute of European and Comparative Law
Oxford Business Law Blog
How Online Competition Affects Offline Democracy
By Ariel Ezrachi, Pembroke College | Maurice Stucke, Institute of European and Comparative Law
Oxford Business Law Blog
How Online Competition Affects Offline Democracy
By Ariel Ezrachi, Pembroke College | Maurice Stucke, Institute of European and Comparative Law
Law and Technology Research Group
The Rise of the Machines – How Automated Digital Assistants Can Reduce Competition (and the Cash in Your Wallet)
By Ariel Ezrachi, Pembroke College | Maurice Stucke, Institute of European and Comparative Law
Oxford Business Law BlogEvents organised by Ariel Ezrachi
Past events
12 Mar 2021
Friday - 12:30PM
Competition law: A European vision of the digital context
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05 Mar 2021
Friday - 1:00PM
Two-sided markets in EU competition law
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26 Feb 2021
Friday - 12:15PM
International cooperation and friction - competition and non-competition values
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19 Feb 2021
Friday - 12:15PM
US antitrust law - key decisions and current debate
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12 Feb 2021
Friday - 12:30PM
Searching the soul of antitrust: what is competition law for?
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05 Feb 2021
Friday - 12:30PM
Google/Fitbit: is Merger Control fit(bit) for purpose in digital markets? Reflections on the EU and Australian reviews, and current reform proposals
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29 Jan 2021
Friday - 12:15PM
Remedies in merger cases - a monitoring trustee's perspective
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