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REGULATION

We support clients on regulatory frameworks, pricing, market design, sector regulation and disputes involving regulated industries, with advice grounded in sound economics and practical experience.

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Expert in economic regulation

We have experience of regulation across a range of policy areas, including in the utilities (energy, communications, transport, water and post), digital markets, financial services, health, the environment, and professional services.

Our work has encompassed price control design and implementation; the development of charging principles; access pricing and disputes; market power assessments; and strategic policy framework design.

We have authored over 100 expert reports and technical studies on different aspects of regulation, and our work has directly influenced the design and implementation of regulatory policy in several industries and countries.

Energy

We have experience across the full span of commercial and policy issues in the electricity and gas industries, including in wholesale markets (market power assessments); transportation networks (network access terms, capacity allocation, price controls); electricity exchanges and storage markets, as well as issues associated with retail markets and consumer protection.

We have advised energy regulators and private companies in the UK, Europe, Asia, Latin America and Australia.

Examples of selected assignments include:

  • Electricity Network Tariff Structure Review

    Expert advisor to an energy regulator for its review of tariff structures for future electricity networks in a context of increased connections of decentralised energy resources.

  • Regulation of future electricity markets

    Expert reports for a regulator examining the implications of changing electricity markets in Australia.

  • New Electricity Trading Arrangements

    Economic advisor to an electricity regulator as part of its development and implementation of the New Electricity Trading Arrangements

  • Gas price reviews

    Advisor to energy regulators and companies on various issues associated with gas pricing and contractual arrangements including development of physical and virtual hubs, pipeline competition, indexing and the implications of shifting from oil-based contracts to gas-on-gas contracts

  • Gas Transmission Access Review

    Economic advisor to a regulator’s review of gas transmission charging arrangements, including the allocation of entry and exit capacity and the under-recovery of auction revenues.

  • LNG Markets

    Report for a large energy company on strategic areas of interest including upstream opportunities and LNG transport in Asia.

  • European Energy Programme for Recovery

    External expert advisor assisting in the European Commission’s economic assessment of the mid-term economic impacts of the European Energy Programme for Recovery.

  • Intelligent Energy-Europe II

    External expert advisor assisting the European Commission’s economic assessment of the Intelligent Energy-Europe II Programme.

Communications

We have experience on a range of issues in the telecommunications, broadcasting and postal sectors, including one-way and two-way access issues, structural separation debates, price regulation and cost modelling, as well as issues associated with retail markets and consumer protection.

We have advised communications regulators and private companies in the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Examples of selected assignments include:

  • Access Disputes

    Expert reports submitted to the UK Communications Regulator for various access disputes involving the incumbent operator.

  • Access Pricing

    Author of a revision to the Australian Telecommunications Access Pricing Principles. Principles published by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.

  • Postal Access

    Advised a European regulator on pricing and access issues in the postal sector, including the impact of entry and declining demand for postal services.

  • Price Control Design

    Expert report to the UK communications regulator on the use of glide-paths and reopeners in regulation.

  • Vertical and Structural Separation

    Advised an incumbent telecommunications company on the pricing, cost and operational impacts of the vertical separation of an incumbent operator.

  • Next-generation access networks

    Expert Report for an incumbent telecommunications company on the future regulation of next-generation access networks in communications.

  • Network cost modelling

    Advised a regulator on the development of a network cost model, including the appropriate specification of the hybrid network, and investigating the impacts of the movement away from a BU-LRIC approach towards a bill and keep approach.

  • Net Neutrality

    Advised a consortium of mobile phone operators on the net neutrality implications of large content providers contributing more to fixed and mobile infrastructure costs.

  • Regulation of Over the Top Services

    Advised a telecommunications regulator on the regulatory and consumer protection frameworks for ‘over-the-top’ service providers.

  • Replacement costs and regulatory resets

    Report for a telecommunications regulator assessing the merits of using periodic resets in fixed telecommunications markets.

Transport

We have advised on a range of policy issues in the transport industry, including price control design; the development of charging principles; access disputes; and airport monitoring/market power assessments.

Examples of selected assignments include:

  • Rail access

    Advised regulators and companies on issues involving access terms and pricing and on-rail competition.

  • Regulation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM)

    Expert report for the UK Civil Aviation Authority on an economic regulatory framework for UTM.

  • Economic rules for the European Union Single Sky

    Lead author of a study for the European Commission on the implementation rules of economic regulation within the framework of the implementation of the Single European Sky.

  • Principles of price control and incentive regulation

    Advised a regulator on the merits of alternative approaches to charging for service provision and the regulation of charging for airspace.

  • Review of price monitored airports

    Advised on the effectiveness of price-monitored airports as part of a review of future price regulation of airport services.

  • Airport competition

    Advised an airport trade association on the prospects for, and effectiveness of, airport competition in different parts of the world.

Water

Advised international agencies (UN GWP, World Bank, International Water Association), water companies and regulators on water sector economics and policy. This includes the development of markets for competition, pricing principles for water charging, access pricing, water resources management planning and the assessment of economic impacts of regulatory reforms.

Examples of selected assignments include:

  • Access Disputes

    Expert economist for a competition authority for the first access dispute in relation to access terms for a Water and wastewater network.

  • National Infrastructure Assessment

    Expert report and cost curve model for the National Infrastructure Commission providing an independent assessment of estimated costs and benefits of water infrastructure projects worth over £240 billion.

  • Pricing principles for water charging

    Expert report setting out pricing principles for water charging. Report submitted to the Australian Council of Ministers.

  • Costs of action and inaction of drought resilience

    Member of the UN’s Global Water Partnership’s Expert Group assessing the costs of action and inaction of drought resilience in the context of climate change.

  • Competition in the retail non-household water sector

    Expert report prepared for the UK Water Retailer Council on the impacts of the introduction of competition in the English retail non-household water sector.

  • Approach to access pricing for networks

    Report for water companies on the different approaches to access pricing for networks, including cost-based approaches and retail-minus approaches.

  • Water trading rights

    Advised a water company on the experience of the development and use of trading rights for the allocation of water drawing on the experience of Australia, Chile and California.

  • Regulation for resilience in water, sanitation and wastewater services

    Expert member of the International Water Association’s Working Group on public policy and regulation. Contributing author to report on this topic.

Digital Markets

We have experience across the full span of policy issues in digital markets, including antitrust/competition law investigations; the rationales for ex ante regulation of digital markets; the economics of multi-sided platforms, and the approach to consumer protection issues in digital markets.

Examples of selected assignments include:

  • Expert in antitrust investigations in digital sector

    Expert in several competition law matters involving digital markets and the high-tech sector.

  • Digital market regulation

    Advised companies, regulators and international bodies on the commercial drivers and regulatory issues arising in digital markets, including the rationales for, and approaches to, the future regulation of digital market service providers.

  • Digital Market training

    Developed and delivered a training programme on digital markets as part of a Digital Regulation Academy.

  • Advised sectoral regulators on platform regulation

    Advised sectoral regulators and competition agencies in several countries on digital market regulation.

  • Consumer protection in digital markets

    Advised on consumer and citizen protection issues in digital markets, including most recently the impacts of AI and policies focussed on the use of ‘dark patterns’ and other online manipulations.

Financial Services and Payment Systems

We have advised on a range of issues in financial services and on the regulation of interbank and card payment systems, as well as issues relating to access to cash and the potential competitive impacts of new payment systems.

Examples of selected assignments include:

  • Competition in retail banking

    Expert report for a major bank submitted to European Commission on competition issues associated with tying and other commercial practices in the retail financial sector.

  • The economic impacts of the EU’s Payment Package Reforms

    Expert report submitted to European Commission as part of its review of the impacts of the Interchange Fee Regulation.

  • Review of the impacts of interventions in the Australian Payment Systems

    Expert Report submitted to Reserve Bank of Australia detailing the economics and competitive impacts of recent interventions in the Australian Payment Systems.

  • ATM Scheme competition

    Expert report for the UK payment systems regulator on the prospects for, and potential impacts of ATM scheme competition. Report submitted to UK Treasury Select Committee.

  • Access to Cash

    Expert report and costs curve model for the UK payment systems regulator that analyses the costs and strategies of ATM acquirers, and the economic characteristics of accessing cash through different means.

  • Future Regulation of Payments Systems

    Lead author of a foundational report on economic regulation of payment systems.

  • International approaches to regulation of interchange fees and surcharging

    Report surveying the international approaches to the regulation of interchange fees, surcharges and annual percentage rate calculations and caps.

Regulatory Policy and Strategy

We have provided strategic advice to policymakers, regulators and companies in many parts of the world, often in new and emerging policy areas. Our work has directly influenced policy in several industries and countries.

Examples of selected assignments include:

  • Goals based and Rules based approaches to regulation

    Report for the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) on Goals based and rules-based approaches to regulation. Published as BEIS Economics Working Paper.

  • Better Economic Regulation of Infrastructure

    Joint author of a report for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Australian Energy Regulator (AER) surveying the approach to infrastructure around the world. Published as an ACCC/AER Economics Working Paper.

  • Quantifying the impacts of consumer policies

    Report prepared for the OECD’s 98th Session of the Committee on Consumer Policy on different approaches to quantifying the impacts of consumer policies.

  • The impacts of regulation on productivity

    Joint author of a report for the Department of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform setting out the impacts that regulation have on productivity. Report published as DBERR Economics Discussion Paper.

  • Government-sponsored voluntary regulation

    Joint author of a report on government initiated voluntary regulation initiatives. Report submitted to the UK Government and European Commission, and recommendations featured in Chancellor’s Autumn Statement.

  • Assessing the Impact on Business of Regulation

    Lead author of a report for the UK Cabinet Office Regulatory Impact Unit on methodologies to assess the impact of existing regulations on UK business.

Regulatory Impact Assessments

We have worked on all aspects of regulatory policy design, implementation and evaluation. This includes the drafting of Impact Assessments for regulatory agencies; mid-term assessments of the effect of particular regulatory policies (including a comparison of expectations against actual outcomes); and ex post evaluations of the effects of policies.

We have also been involved in the external scrutiny of Impact Assessments. These policy assessments have been undertaken for public bodies, regulators and private clients.

Examples of relevant assignments include

  • Preparation of Impact Assessments for regulatory agencies and departments

    Areas covered include financial policy, social policy, education policy and policies in relation to the regulated sectors (energy, water).

  • Mid-term assessments of the impacts of policy measures

    This included an: assessment of the mid-term economic impacts of the European Energy Programme for Recovery; an Assessment of the Intelligent Energy-Europe II Programme; and an Evaluation of Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation.

  • External scrutiny of Impact Assessments

    This has involved the preparation of an expert report, some of which have been used in legal proceedings. Assignments include the scrutiny of Impact Assessments in relation to major areas of social and public health policy.

  • Ex post evaluation of the impacts of policies

    This involved applying different economic methodologies to assess the effects of policies such as social cost-benefit analysis; computable general equilibrium approaches, econometric methods and qualitative methods.

  • Methodologies for assessing the costs and impacts of regulation on business

    This assignment applied a microeconomic framework to assess the impacts of regulation, identifying and costing the different possible areas of regulation that could impact on business.