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Master's Degree in Specialized Economic Analysis

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Master's Degree in Specialized Economic Analysis

Competition, Regulation, and Markets Program

Study core issues in Competition Policy and Market Regulation with leading specialists.

9 months
full time

17,500€

Face-to-face

English

60 ECTS

Campus: Ciutadella (UPF)

Program begins in September 2025

Application deadline for 2025-2026, is July 2, 2025

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Master's Degree in Specialized Economic Analysis

Applications for 2025-2026 Master´s Degrees are now open!

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Master's Degrees

Master's Degree in Specialized Economic Analysis

Competition, Regulation, and Markets Program

About this Master’s program

Learn conceptual frameworks and economic tools to understand the core issues in Competition Policy and Market Regulation. You will examine competition policy cases and demonstrate how regulation works across different industries.

Discover what makes this program truly exceptional

1

Study with Experienced Faculty: Learn from professors who worked at the European Commission within Competition Economics.

2

Learn from Industry experts: In empirical methods for the measurement of market power and competition.

3

Real-world application: Learn practical skills and examine these real policy cases.

4

Comprehensive Curriculum: Cover key areas of competition policy and market regulation with theory and practical cases.

5

Strong Career Placement: Graduates secure roles in top consulting firms, government agencies, and international organizations.

Meet the Program Directors

Program Director

Rosa Ferrer

Scientific Director

Massimo Motta

Ready to make a difference? This program is designed for

Students passionate about competition policy cases and understanding how regulation works. Here’s why it is perfect for you:

You have a background in Economics or Business with a strong interest in microeconomics.
You want to build your knowledge of economics, markets, and organizations.
You want to learn in-depth training in competition and market regulation policies.
You work at an antitrust authority and you are looking for advanced techniques and tools.
You want to do a PhD after a rigorous economics master’s in Competition Policy and Market Regulation.

What skills and knowledge will you learn?

Learn the skills in demand at consulting firms and public authorities

Examine Economic theory

Learn the economics theory behind the design and evaluation of public policies.

Applied analysis

In Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Information Economics, Game Theory, and Political Economy.

Empirical tools to evaluate policies

Command of state-of-the-art empirical tools to evaluate policies and impacts.

Expert knowledge

Of institutional framework contexts where public policies are designed and implemented.

Policy Report Writing

Communicate in written technical and non-technical policy reports on multidisciplinary approaches.

Professors

BSE Professors are renowned researchers who are published in leading Economics Journals.

UPF and BSE

Albert Banal-Estañol

Professor, Politecnico di Torino

Carlo Cambini

UPF and BSE

Rodrigo Carril

UAB and BSE

Fernando Payró Chew

Managing Director, Berkley Research Group

Adina Claici

Partner, RBB Economics

Benoît Durand

UPF and BSE

Rosa Ferrer

UPF and BSE

Fabian Gaessler

UPF and BSE

Javier Gómez Biscarri

UPF and BSE

Humberto Llavador

Associate Professor, CEMFI

Gerard Llobet

IAE-CSIC and BSE

Joan Llull

Principal, Charles River Associates

Christian Michel

Partner in the Antitrust & Competition Practice in Latham & Watkins

Carles Esteva Mosso

ICREA-UPF and BSE; former Chief Competition Economist, European Commission

Massimo Motta

ICREA-IAE-CSIC and BSE

Mar Reguant

Assistant Professor, ESADE

André B.M. Souza

Professor, University of Leuven

Frank Verboven

Program Schedule

In September, students will have the opportunity to take a brush-up course in Mathematics and Statistics, and Stata. These courses are not mandatory but highly recommended to assure a smooth start.

In the beginning of the first term, students will also have the opportunity to take brush-up courses in Coding in R and Coding in Python. These two courses are mandatory for those students who want to take Foundations of Data Science in Term 1.

Term 1 (September - December)

Course title	Credits	Professor(s)
Mandatory
Quantitative and Statistical Methods I	6	Javier Gómez Biscarri
Microeconomics: Markets, Strategies and Information	6	Fernando Payró Chew
Industrial Organization	3	Alessandro De Chiara , Christian Michel
Elements of Competition Law	3	Carles Esteva Mosso
Introduction to Game Theory	3	Fabrizio Germano
Elective (Choose from 0 to 3 ECTS)
Foundations of Data Science	3	André B.M. Souza
Reinforcement TA Sessions	0

Term 2: Core (January - March)

Course title	Credits	Professor(s)
Mandatory
Quantitative and Statistical Methods II	6	Rosa Ferrer , Jacint Enrich
Economics of Competition Policy	6	Massimo Motta
Empirical Methods for Competition Policy	3	Frank Verboven
Electives (Choose from 0 to 6 ECTS)
Empirical Methods for the Analysis of the Energy Transition	3	Mar Reguant , Jacint Enrich
The Economics of Climate Change	3	Humberto Llavador , Bruno Conte

Term 3: Practice (April-June)

Course title	Credits	Professor(s)
Mandatory
Master Project	6	Fabian Gaessler
Competition Policy Case	3	Adina Claici , Benoît Durand
Competition and Regulation in Energy Markets	3	Albert Banal-Estañol
Economics of Market Regulation	3	Gerard Llobet
Policy Lessons	3	Carlo Cambini
Electives (Choose from 0 to 3 ECTS)
Perspectives on Globalization	3	Jaume Ventura
Topics in Applied Econometrics - Non-parametric Methods and Distributional Analysis	3	Laura Mayoral

Master's Project

Students use the tools and knowledge they've acquired during the Master’s to explore a topic of their choice for the Master’s project. It can be carried out individually or in groups.

Examples of Master's Projects

Class of 2023

Evaluating the Impact of Competition and Spillover Effects in Crowdfunding Markets by Liam Deighton and Natalie Guest.
EC’s Methodology in Ryanair/Aer Lingus Applied to Jetblue/Spirit: A Review of Merger Analysis in Airline Markets by Joan Freixa Martínez and Immaculada Pinent.

Class of 2022

Chilean Injectables Cartel: Detection of Collusion in Public Procurement by Daniel Méndez and Noelia Saiz.
Estimating the Conduct of Istanbul’s Diesel Oil Market by Rathi Rajendran, Kimberly Tanos, and Dilan Toprak Erdağı.

Class of 2021

Implications of Market Rating-based Segmentation on Intra-platform Competition by Paul Arenas and Saúl Paredes.
Green Agreement in the Electricity Market: An ex-post evaluation of the 2013 Dutch Coal Power Plants Closure Agreement by Ilaria Noviello and Shaun Sheng Han Tey.

Master’s degree awarded by UAB and UPF

Upon successful completion of the BSE Competition, Regulation, and Markets Program, students will receive a Master’s Degree in Specialized Economics Analysis awarded jointly with Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF).

BSE Institutional Accreditations

Quality accreditations

All Barcelona School of Economics Master’s degrees have been recognized by the Catalan and Spanish Education authorities within the framework of the Bologna Process (in Spanish, “Master Universitario o Master Oficial”).

Quality indicators for this Master’s degree

BSE commitment to quality

Placement rate

94%

Job titles: Analyst, Consultant, Economist, Research Assistant.
Industries: Consulting, Government and Authorities.
Higher Education: Students normally go straight into the workforce.
Companies: Compass Lexecon, Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore, KPMG, Oxera.

Work Internationally

Cities with the most alumni (based on the last 3 cohorts)

Brussels

London

Madrid

Rome

Barcelona

Testimonials

Competition, Regulation, and Markets Program

Elisa Greene

The experience has been great. The Master’s in Competition and Market Regulation is very specialized and has great professors both practitioners and academics. I learned a lot about the topics that are being discussed in policy right now all over the world and also about the techniques and methodologies that are being used by experts and authorities.

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Competition, Regulation, and Markets Program

Samantha Catalina Guerrero

I wanted to go back to basics and become a fully-fledged economist, not a banker. I had the opportunity to see first-hand how a regulation affects the business as usual of the banking sector. That’s when I decided to apply for a Master’s in Competition and Market Regulation at the Barcelona School of Economics and I moved my life to Barcelona. The masters surpassed all of my expectations. The professors that teach here are world renowned, the lectures are structured in a way that gives us a theoretical and practical approach, and the job market is looking for people that have the skills that graduates from this program have.

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Why study a Master’s at BSE

1

RePEc ranks BSE among the top institutions for economics research in the world.

2

BSE Master’s are developed by prestigious economists including Nobel Laureates.

3

The faculty is well-renowned.

4

Study in vibrant Barcelona for a year.

Admissions and entry requirements

At BSE, we look for excellence. Key elements of a strong application are a high GPA, a sound statement of purpose, and standout reference letters. Strong knowledge of Economics and good quantitative skills are also recommended.

Master’s program starts: September 2025

Application deadline: July 2, 2025

Requirements:

An undergraduate/bachelor/grado/laurea, or equivalent degree from an accredited college or university (for Bologna degrees, a minimum of 180 ECTS are required).
University diploma in Economics, Finance, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or Business Administration. Students with academic backgrounds in other subjects will be considered.
The following scores are required to prove your level of English is high enough: TOEFL score of 90 or above; IELTS Academic Test score of 6.5 or above; Duolingo English Test 120 points.

Candidates will also be evaluated on the following admission criteria:

Outstanding academic record.
Quantitative skills.
Reference letters.

Apply now

FAQs

Below you will find our most frequently asked questions but do not hesitate to contact the BSE Admissions Team to learn more about our Master’s programs.