Merton College, Oxford
The conference’s theme is how decisions get made in the regulatory and competition policy arena, with sessions focused on aspects of decision-making by the various parties involved – consumers, companies, regulators, and politicians.
See confirmed speakers and further details
Professor of Economics at the University of Edinburgh
Renewable energy and the regulation of electricity generation
Speakers: Fod Barnes, Sir Ian Byatt, Peter Freeman, Colin Robinson
Competition Policy Conferences
Beesley Lectures
Occasional conferences & seminars
George Yarrow’s presentation to the Scotsman conference on “The economics of renewables: will green energy leave Scotland in the red?” Edinburgh, 13 December 2011: Innovation, competition and de-politicised regulation: the only way to bring down the cost of renewables?
See also Professor Gordon Hughes's presentation How can we address the high costs of renewables? to the same conference, and his earlier papers The Myth of Green Jobs and Why wind power is so expensive.
- Energy Regulation: lessons from experience, Colin Robinson
- Market definition and market power in the airport sector: competition from outside the relevant market, David Starkie
- Airport-airline relationships and contracts: a proposal, David Starkie
- The UK’s carbon price floor policy, George Yarrow
The scope/limits of incentive regulation, by George Yarrow, is one of three presentations given in the opening session of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) Regulatory Conference, held in Brisbane on 28th and 29th July 2011. In relation to the price control of monopoly networks, the speakers were asked to address the question "Is 'Cost-of-Service plus Incentives' the best that we can do?" The presentations by Professor David Newbery, Dr Bill Tye and Dr Toby Brown are available at ACCC website, together with material discussed in the subsequent conference sessions, which covered a variety of regulatory issues.
Reflections on the Ofwat Review, David Gray, Lead Reviewer, Ofwat, presentation to the Hertford Seminar. You can read the full "Review of Ofwat and consumer representation in the water sector" here.
Essays on the economics of legal services reform, published by the Legal Services Board in March 2011, was prompted by last year's report by Dr Christopher Decker and Professor George Yarrow, Understanding the economic rationale for legal services regulation . The Decker/Yarrow Report is prominently referenced in the Bar Council’s response to the Legal Service Board’s consultation on the scope of legal services regulation. See their discussion document, "Enhancing Consumer Protection, Reducing Regulatory Restrictions".
Professor George Yarrow has been considering the electricity market reform consultation. His Response to the Electricity Market Reform Consultation argues that "energy and environmental policy in the UK is currently on a fundamentally misguided path...inconsistent with accumulated evidence and experience on best practice public policy". (RPI, March 2011)