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Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO) cleared the transaction Sunrise | Liberty Global. Swiss Economics accompanied the examination from the outset with economic expertise.
Swiss Economics unterstütze Sunrise in diesem Verfahren in enger Zusammenarbeit mit der Anwaltskanzlei Lenz & Staehelin. Unser Team umfasste Samuel Rutz, Michael Funk, Matthias Hafner und Christian Jaag.
Swiss Economics hatte Sunrise bereits im letztjährigen Fusionskontrollverfahren bezüglich der umgekehrten Transaktion erfolgreich unterstützt. Schon damals hatte die WEKO den Zusammenschluss nach vertiefter Prüfung bedingungslos freigegeben. Anschliessend lehnte jedoch die Mehrheit der Aktionäre/innen die Übernahme ab. Nach erneuter Prüfung kam die WEKO zum Schluss, dass die Marktverhältnisse seither weitgehend unverändert blieben.
Who’s Who Legal 2020 featured Samuel Rutz, Michael Funk and Christian Jaag for their outstanding work in competition economics.
Samuel Rutz is mentioned in the following categories:
- - Competition - Economists
- - Experts - Economics - Competition Economists
WWL says: Samuel Rutz is a well-recognised figure in the Swiss market who is commended for his profound knowledge of competition regulation and policy.
Michael Funk is mentioned in the following categories:
- - Competition Future Leaders - Economists
- - Experts - Economics - Competition Economists - Future Leaders
WWL says: Michael Funk receives widespread commendations for his excellent practice, which sees him provide commercially astute analysis on competition policy issues.
Christian Jaag is mentioned in the following categories:
- - Competition - Economists
- - Experts - Economics - Competition Economists
- - Switzerland - Competition Economists
WWL says: Christian Jaag is "highly recommended" as "one of the very best competition economists in Switzerland". Peers and clients say: "Christian is brilliant at connecting academic and abstract thinking to concrete business needs."
Swiss Economics Principal Tobias Binz discusses this question in an article published in the latest issue of Competition and Regulation in Network Industries.
He uses a microeconomic framework to illustrate how firm and market characteristics determine the extent to which economy-wide demand shocks are translated into profit fluctuations. The findings may help regulators to improve the composition of the peer groups that are used to assess airports' Beta risk.
The published article can be accessed online through Competition and Regulation in Network Industries' website. A working paper version is available here.
The Fair Price Initiative aims to introduce the concept of "relative market power" to Swiss competition law. However, from an economic point of view, the concept is not an appropriate instrument to combat the high prices in Switzerland.
Read more (German)
Swiss Economics was commissioned by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) to conduct a meta-analysis on the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
On the 27th of April, two months after they were first introduced, the federal government started to relax the measures to contain the spread of the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). It cannot be ruled out that this easing will lead to a renewed increase in infection rates or even a second wave of infections.
The Swiss Economics study provides an overview of available evidence on the effectiveness of various measures and indicates which measures would be particularly appropriate to implement in case infection rates start to increase again.
Swiss Economics supported the Irish Commission for Aviation Regulation in determining capital costs over the 2020-24 regulatory period. The Appeals Panel has decided in favour of the Commission of Aviation Regulation regarding appeals about capital costs.
Swiss Economics supported the Irish Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) in determining capital costs (WACC) over the 2020-24 regulatory period. After CAR published its projections, appeals have been made by Dublin Airport and Raynair. Among other points, the appeals targeted capital costs. An independent panel has now rejected most points of these appeals including the capital costs. CAR welcomes the decision of the panel and its argumentation. The panel stated that the numbers rely on the evaluation of the current economic conditions and conform with statutory requirements.
Press Release from the Commission for Aviation Regulation (2 June 2020)
Sunrise claims damages of CHF 350 million from Swisscom for abuse of its dominant position in the ADSL wholesale sector. Swiss Economics has supported Sunrise in quantifying the harm from the infringement.
Extract from the press release:
Swisscom abused its dominant market position from 2001 to 2007, and unlawfully hindered the competition with its pricing policy for ADSL services. The former monopolist practised a margin squeeze which made it impossible for Sunrise as a wholesale customer, to operate its ADSL business profitably.
This was confirmed by the Federal Supreme Court on December 9, 2019 after a ten-year appeal process. Swisscom was sentenced to a fine of CHF 186 million.
On the basis of this ruling, Sunrise is claiming damages of CHF 350 million plus interest from Swisscom.
Sunrise commissioned the renowned consulting company Swiss Economics to calculate the damage to Sunrise. This is due to the loss of market share and prevented gain in the broadband Internet market and adjacent markets (landline and mobile communications). The total amounts to CHF 457 million, a greater number than originally assumed. As a precautionary measure to prevent limitation, Sunrise had interrupted the statute of limitation for a claim of CHF 350 million and is filing a claim for damages of CHF 350 million plus interest with the Bern Commercial Court today.
Our team includes Christian Jaag, Michael Funk and Matthias Hafner.
The Swiss Competition Commission has approved a merger between Swiss railway company SBB Cargo and several road freight firms without imposing any remedies. Swiss Economics provided economic evidence related to efficiencies arising from the merger to inform the Commission's thinking.
The Competition Commission found that the investment of Swiss Combi (a joint venture of Planzer, Camion-Transport, Galliker, and Bertschi) in SBB Cargo does not eliminate competition in any of the concerned markets. The decision will increase the economic viability of the Swiss rail freight business and will lead to innovative new services being made available.
During Phase II of the investigation, Swiss Economics, in collaboration with SBB Cargo and law firm Walder Wyss, produced detailed economic evidence of the investment's effects on competition and welfare. The engagement was led by Samuel Rutz, Michael Funk, and Tobias Binz.
We welcome our new team member Dr. Ann-Kathrin Crede, focusing on Behavioral Economics.
Ann-Kathrin Crede works as an economist with a focus on Behavioral Economics. She graduated with her PhD in Behavioral and Experimental Economics at the University of Bern and gained experience in running laboratory and field experiments and in applying behavioural insights to organizations during her time as a research assistant.
She holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Passau and a Bachelor’s degree in Business & Economics and French from the University of Kassel.
The French Autorité de régulation des transports (ART) has published its opinion on the appropriate level of the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) for Parisian airports Charles de Gaulle, Orly, and Le Bourget.
The opinion will play a central role in the negotiations between Aéroports de Paris Group and the French government regarding the Economic Regulation Agreement over the 2021-25 period.
For the assessment of Beta risk, the regulator relied on evidence provided by Swiss Economics. Our contribution was twofold. First, we analysed what drives airports’ systematic risk and defined risk categories for airports under ART’s mandate. Second, we identified valid comparator airports and determined the level of their Beta risk, using regression analysis of stock returns. Our reports on drivers of Beta risk and comparator Betas can be downloaded directly from ART’s website:
Team members of Swiss Economics awarded by Who is Who Switzerland 2020.
Christian Jaag and Samuel Rutz are highlighted for their excellent work as Competition Economists:
“At Swiss Economics, Christian Jaag has an exemplary ability ‘to convey and explain highly complex matters’ to peers and clients alike. His knowledge and skillset make him a ‘brilliant economist to work with’ and one of the leading names in Switzerland.”
“Samuel Rutz of Swiss Economics has wide-ranging knowledge and extensive experience of competition regulation and policy matters in Switzerland.”
#whoswholegal #wwl #competition
Who's Who Legal and Client Choice honoured Christian Jaag as the best Competition Economist in Switzerland in 2020.
At the inaugural Who's Who Legal Switzerland Awards ceremony on February 12, 2020, in Zurich Christian Jaag received the Competition Economist of the Year 2020 Award. Each year Who's Who Legal presents awards to individuals that have performed exceptionally well in each of the featured practice areas according to Who's Who Legal's research.
To the WWL Switzerland award winners
In addition, Christian Jaag was recently rewarded with the Lexology Client Choice award also for his work as a Competition Economist.
Established in 2005, Client Choice recognises those individuals around the world that stand apart for the excellent client care they provide and the quality of their service. The criteria for this recognition focus on the ability to add real value to clients’ businesses above and beyond the other players in the market.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) attracted not only politicians, managers and scientists to Davos but also Blockchain experts, start-ups and investors. Swiss Economics was delighted to exchange views with them.
During the World Economic Forum (WEF), the incubation space provider of the largest Swiss Blockchain Venture Capitalist, CV Labs, organized several events in Davos designed to showcase and discuss the Blockchain ecosystem. Since Christian Jaag, Matthias Hafner and Jan Christoph Schlegel are mentoring start-ups from the CV Labs incubation program, we were happy to see them pitch and progress, and to exchange views about current topics in the Blockchain ecosystem. Discussions included successful projects Swiss Economics supported in the past. CV VC proudly stated that there are now over 800 Blockchain companies in Switzerland and Lichtenstein. Swiss Economics is looking forward to new exciting collaborations in the Blockchain industry.
Swiss Economics Principal Michael Funk presents his views on the importance of economic analyses in antitrust proceedings during the “Swiss Network on Public Economics”-Workshop at ETH Zurich
At the first workshop of the "Swiss Network on Public Economics" Michael Funk presented a paper on the importance of economic analyses in antitrust proceedings. The focus was on the most recent development in Switzerland, which has resulted in the marginalisation of the economy. This development contrasts with the development in the European Union, where the negative effects of a violation of antitrust law are generally the focus of the proceedings.
The aim of the newly founded network is to strengthen relations between academics and practitioners at universities, in public administrations, the Swiss National Bank and private institutions.
Congratulations to Swiss Economics Counsel Christian Jaag for being recognized as a thought leader in the topic of competition by Who's Who Legal.
Swiss Economics supports the second incubation program of the largest investment ecosystem for start-ups using the Blockchain technology in Zug, Switzerland (CV Labs Incubation Program).
Recently, Christian Jaag and Matthias Hafner met the start-ups and presented their expertise and experience in platform and monetary economics for token-based projects. In their workshop they discussed characteristics, considerations and decisions to be made when designing token-based ecosystems.
On behalf of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Swiss Economics has updated its findings on the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical measures to combat the pandemic.
Swiss Economics has examined the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions ("NPI") to contain the coronavirus (to the Swiss Economics study) for a second time. This is an update of the meta-analysis on this topic commissioned by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) in June 2020. In addition to the question of the effectiveness of NPI, the study also evaluates the literature on the costs of particular measures and discusses the findings on factors such as the weather and the acceptance of NPI among the population. In the course of combating the pandemic, the question of the optimal level of intervention also arose in Switzerland. Another part of the study is devoted to this question.
Felix Wüthrich and Luca Apreda now Economist, Eva Zuberbühler und Nicolas Eschenbaum now Senior Economist
We are expanding our team:
Felix Wüthrich strengthens our team as an Economist in the areas of environmental economics, behavioural economics and data analysis. During his studies at ETH Zurich, Felix already completed an internship at Swiss Economics and subsequently supported our team as an Analyst.
Luca Apreda, now also Economist, has a focus on regulation and quantitative methods. After completing his Master's degree at the University of Bern, Luca joined Swiss Economics as an Analyst.
Dr. Eva Zuberbühler has been promoted to Senior Economist. Her expertise lies in the areas of regulation, competition, strategy and pricing. Prior to completing her PhD in industrial economics at the University of Bern, Eva worked as a corporate client advisor at a major bank
Dr. Nicolas Eschenbaum has also been promoted to Senior Economist. He focuses on competition economics and digital markets. Nicolas received his PhD in industrial economics from the University of St. Gallen and conducted postdoctoral research on the competitive impact of artificial intelligence, among other topics.
We congratulate all four and wish them much success and joy in their further work for Swiss Economics.
Michael Funk was asked about the consquences of the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA) by SRF's daily podcast "Newsplus".
The EU is working to improve the current regulatory framework for digital products. The introduction of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA) is intended to create a uniform set of rules valid throughout the EU.
Michael Funk was asked by SRF about the consequences of the extensive package for Switzerland.
To the podcast (in German): https://www.srf.ch/audio/news-plus/eine-neue-aera-fuer-internet-giganten?id=12166241
We are pleased to welcome Dr. Nicolas Eschenbaum as a new team member of Swiss Economics. He will strengthen our competences in competition economics and regulation.
Nicolas Eschenbaum is an experienced economist focusing on competition economics and economics of digitization.
He holds a Ph.D. in Economics and Finance from the University of St. Gallen with a thesis in industrial organization with a focus on digital markets. Prior to joining Swiss Economics, Nicolas worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of St. Gallen, where he continues to conduct research and teach. Currently, his research focuses on the intersection of game theory and artificial intelligence.
We are pleased to announce that Matteo Mattmann has been appointed Managing Economist as of January 1.
We welcome Matteo Mattmann among the shareholders of Swiss Economics. As a member of the Management Board, he will develop our activities in health and behavioural economics. We wish him every success in his new position and look forward to thee continuing collaboration.
Since January 2021, Swiss Economics is a carbon neutral company. Swiss Economics minimizes greenhouse gas emissions and offsets emissions that cannot be avoided.
The exact principles with which we try to contribute to the achievement of Switzerland's climate goals can be found here.
For the year 2021, our employees have decided to offset by means of a reforestation project in Nicaragua. The offset is certified by myclimate.
The modernisation of Swiss merger control is the core element of the partial revision of the Cartel Act (KG). With its 2017 study about the SIEC test, Swiss Economics made an important contribution to the revision.
The partial revision of the KG envisages adapting the Swiss test for merger control to international practice. The fundamental difference between the market dominance test applied in Switzerland so far and the newly envisaged SIEC test lies in the level of the intervention hurdle. Under the SIEC test, mergers can be prohibited or subject to appropriate conditions if they lead to a "significant" impediment to competition. In contrast, under the current standard of review, this is only possible if a merger "completely" eliminates effective competition. In addition, the planned revision also aims to strengthen private damages actions and provides for several procedural changes as well as a clarification with regard to inadmissible agreements.
The consultation period lasts until 11 March 2022. It can be assumed that the new provisions will not enter into force before 2023/24.
Malou and Valpuri had the opportunity to spend the "Future Day" at Swiss Economics.
Highlights of their day in our office were conducting interviews and editing them into a video, behavioural economics experiments with a chocolate reward and eating pizza in the park. The thoughts of the two primary school students of their fathers' work are in the video below.
Ann-Kathrin Crede participated in the SRF programme "Club" on the topic of National Immunisation Week and contributed with her behavioural economics expertise to the question of how to incentivize people to vaccinate themselves.
Quelle: srf.ch
Swiss Economics/cryptecon continue to support the CV Labs Incubation Program for start-ups using the Blockchain technology.
Recently, Juan Beccuti joined CV Labs as a mentor for the start-ups' incubation program. Together with Matthias Hafner (who joined CV Labs in 2019), he shares his expertise in platform and token economics. They present and discuss with the program's participants the main characteristics, considerations, and decisions to consider when designing token-based ecosystems.
Presentation of the interim report in the project to hedge terror and pandemic risks at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin.
Swiss Economics, presented together with Christian Hott (from Economic Advice) the first results in the project on hedging terror and pandemic risks at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin.
Lilia is a quantitative economist strengthening our competencies in analyzing panel and time-series data. Lilia is proficient in English and German with mother tongue Russian.
Dr. Lilia Ruslanova is a quantiative economist focusing on empirical methods, econometrics and DCF modelling. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Zurich. During her work as a doctoral student as well as research associate at the University of Zurich, she accumulated years of proficient experience in processing and analyzing data using various quantitative methods and statistical tools. The main fields of her research interests are International Macroeconomics, International Trade, Financial Regulation, Financial and Real Estate Markets.
Juan is a microeconomist and industrial engineer with a focus on market design. He will support Swiss Economics in platform and crypto economics.
Juan is an experienced economist focusing on platform economics, contract theory, and auctions. Amongst others, he will support our team in the analysis of incentives in crypto markets and blockchain protocols. Juan's mother tongue is Spanish, extending our reach into the Hispanic region.
Juan holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid with a dissertation about mechanism design. He also has a degree in industrial engineering. Prior to joining Swiss Economics full-time, Juan supported Swiss Economics as a Senior Fellow and worked as a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Bern.