Competition policy and its enforcement have been at the centre of important debates in recent years, all over the world. Antitrust Agencies and Courts have been criticized for being too lenient and thus favoring increasing concentration and market power across industries. As a result, a number of legislative and enforcement changes have recently been undertaken.

Recent high-profile cases involving large digital platforms, discussions about the effects of algorithms and artificial intelligence, the role of industrial policies and the energy transition, have only increased the interest of scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers towards competition issues. In parallel, in the last decade or so there have been important academic developments in a number of areas, from mergers to abuse of dominance, from new theories of harm to more sophisticated quantitative methods, which have impacted the work of practitioners.

This 5-day course, which you can attend either face-to-face or online, will provide you (whether a lawyer or an economist, whether an experienced practitioner or a recent arrival to the competition world) with a thorough review of the most recent economic thinking on competition issues, and how to apply these concepts in practice. You will also get acquainted with the important recent cases from different jurisdictions, identify their key features, and understand how to assess them.

You will also participate in the discussions on some of the most hotly debated issues, including the role and objective(s) of competition law, how to deal with labor market effects, the role of industrial policy, the scope for excessive price actions in antitrust, the possible policy issues involving artificial intelligence.

Acquire a thorough understanding of the most recent economic theories on competition policy, review actual cases, and apply the concepts in practice

During this course, you will:

• Review established and recent economic theories on various competition issues through a largely non-formal exposition also accessible to non-economists
• Get acquainted with the main tools to apply a sound economic approach to market definition, market power assessment, prediction of merger effects, and estimation of damages
• Understand the main elements for an economic evaluation of (horizontal and vertical) agreements, mergers, and abuse of dominance
• Learn to assess the regulatory risk of a firm's conduct
• Learn to structure potential anti-competitive claims and/or defenses in an economically coherent way
•  Acquire the ability to critically evaluate economic analysis and submissions in competition matters
• Review and understand the key economic considerations behind landmark competition cases

Get acquainted with cases and recent policy developments with internationally renowned competition scholars and practitioners, in just 5 days

This intensive course is taught by expert faculty who have authored some of the most important research contributions in competition economics and have extensive experience in the application of economic techniques to competition cases.

The course will be highly interactive with many opportunities for debating and networking, both during the classes and at the specially organized events.