9th Winter School

Course Description

The Winter School represents the first comprehensive effort in India initiated by CUTS Institute for Regulation & Competition (“CIRC”) to enhance the understanding of application of economics to competition law. In collaboration with globally renowned organisations, we have organised five offline editions of Winter School in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019 respectively with CRESSE (The Competition and Regulation European Summer School), RBB Economics, NERA Economic Consulting and Economics Partners. In 2020 & 2021, due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the sixth & seventh edition of the programme were organised online, led by distinguished competition economists from different parts of the world. The past training programmes have been attended by legal practitioners, representatives from competition authorities, researchers, and academicians, in-house counsels from corporates, non-governmental organisations and students from several countries

9th EDITION OF WINTER SCHOOL ON ECONOMICS OF COMPETITION LAW:

We are delighted to announce the 9th edition of our Winter School on Economics of Competition Law scheduled from 6-10 November 2024. It is a 20-hour training programme, spread over two weeks, with 4-hour sessions each day. Led by globally renowned speakers, the sessions of the winter school have been carefully curated to forward discourse on the application of economic tools and analysis in competition law cases. It aims to provide the participants with an understanding of the increasingly important role that economics plays in understanding the markets and assessing the violation of competition law. It strongly focusses on practical examples and direct application of the underlying economic theories and techniques. The themes of the sessions are –

• Importance of economic evidence in competition law- case studies
• Cartels- Economic tools and analysis- Theory & Cases – 1
• Cartels- Economic tools and analysis- Theory & Cases – 2
• Vertical Agreements – Economic tools and analysis- Theory
• Vertical Agreements- Economic tools and analysis- Case studies
• Cross-border issues in competition law enforcement and policy

• Abuse of Dominance- Economic tools and analysis- Theory
• Abuse of Dominance – Economic tools and analysis- Case studies
• Mergers & Acquisitions- Economic tools and analysis- Theory
• Mergers & Acquisitions – Economic tools and analysis- Case studies
• The Interface of Intellectual Property and Competition Law

Why join Winter School?

Economics actuates Competition Law and Regulatory Scenario :

Markets are becoming increasingly global and the approaches to regulate them more economics based. Modern competition law differs from traditional competition law in that it now reflects the dominance of the economic model of analysing the market structures and behaviour. Competition economics assumes importance as regulatory and competition authorities have moved to adopt more economics based approaches in analysing business practices and determining anti-competitive behaviour. Even the current policy formulation and consultation takes into account market dynamics and thus critical to understand these nuances to help better understand the broader picture. Competition law and policy is sector neutral and thus a better understanding of competition economics equips participants with tools to analyse interplay between complex issues related to competition in all the sectors of economy.

Global Relevance with Local Application:

The knowledge acquired through this Winter School will be relevant regardless of the jurisdiction in which you work. The themes of the sessions cover evolving jurisprudence. Case studies, decisions and approaches from the US, EU and other developed as well as developing countries will be discussed within a common analytical framework strongly based on economic theory. Contemporary issues related to importance of economic evidence in competition law, Economic tools and analysis in cartels, vertical agreements, abuse of dominance and Mergers & Acquisitions, and use of consumer surveys in competition case analysis, etc. will be analysed in an informed manner.

How it benefits you?

a. Legal Practitioners, Competition Lawyers and Law Firms

Designed especially for lawyers, the course tends to explain the economics in a language the lawyers can understand. From a legal practitioner’s perspective, it is vital to understand and assess the relevance and rigour of the economic analysis so as formulate a strategy regarding specific case. This could include identifying whether the data employed and empirical approach in economic analysis is appropriate, and ascertaining the consistency of assumptions used in economic models with characteristics of industry/sector. The economic concepts and methodical techniques that lawyers working in mergers and competition cases need to know will also be discussed.

b. In-house Counsels at Corporate Entity

This course will help the corporates to understand the economics of competition law in a better way, which will help them to device policies to better their services and products in order to have a better footing in the market while in compliance with law.

c. Competition Authorities and Regulatory Affairs Officials

They will be able to better understand the competition economics and will be well equipped to deal with the competition cases. The applied concepts to be discussed during Winter School will help regulatory officials devise better regulatory approaches in their respective sectors so as to develop a competitive framework.

d. Economic Consultancies

Practitioners working with economic consultancies and economists will get a chance to learn the contemporary literature and will also learn from the top practitioner’s ways to identify and apply best economic model suited to a specific industry.

e. Representatives from Government and International Organisations

The course can prove beneficial for them and help them in understanding the issues related to competition law and policy in India and best international approaches to effectively deal with such situations.

f. Researchers in area of Law, Economics, and Management

The course will teach them the economics behind various tenets of competition law and provide them opportunities to interact with the pioneers in this field. This will equip them with better legal and economic tools to analyse contemporary debates in an informed manner.