Analysis Group

The Analysis Group is a committee of CC staff and members (full list below). It is chaired by the CC Chairman, Peter Freeman. Operational responsibility lies with the CC Chief Economist, John Davies.

The aim of the Analysis Group is to improve the quality of the CC’s decision making in relation to competition and regulatory issues. The group:

commissions evaluations and other analysis in response to concerns arising out of inquiries or as part of a general need to maintain the CC’s capabilities;
decides on the CC’s approach to certain issues, where required; and
disseminates internal research and best practice.

Members

(As at February 2008)

Peter Freeman (CC Chairman)
John Davies (Chief Economist)
Peter Davis (CC Deputy Chairman)
Laura Carstensen (CC member)
Peter Hazell (CC member)
Professor Michael Waterson (CC member)
Carole Begent (Legal Director)
Benoit Durand (Economics Director)
Elizabeth Dymond (Chief Accounting Adviser)

Robin Finer (Economics Director)
Tom Kitchen (Economics Director)
Adam Land (Director of Remedies)
Rachel Merelie (Senior Inquiry Director)
Nicola Mazzarotto (Head of Policy Analysis)
Caroline Wallace (Inquiry Director)
Andrew Wright (Inquiry Director)

Martin Stanley (Chief Executive), Christopher Clarke (CC Deputy Chairman) and Diana Guy (CC Deputy Chairman) are observers.

Activities

The Analysis Group is conducting, on behalf of the CC Council, a full review of the CC’s published guidelines for merger references (CC2). The aim is to publish revised guidelines by the end of 2008, following an extensive public consultation. Details of the review can be found at Review of Guidelines for Merger References.

The Analysis Group identifies topics for frequent internal brainstorming sessions, open to all CC staff and members, where particular aspects of the CC’s analytical approach to competition issues are discussed and opened for debate.

It conducts evaluations of CC cases and procedures. Recent publications include:

Ex post review: CC economists assess the impact of several past CC cases, by investigating what has happened since publication of the report. A first such report, looking back at four inquiries dating from 2000 to 2002 was published on 24 January 2008. This followed an earlier, external, study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) ex post evaluation of mergers published in March 2005;
Quantification of benefits: CC economists annually prepare a paper on the consumer benefits resulting from the CC’s adverse findings over the last year.

For published documents, see the Analysis Publications section of this site.