The main focus of the two-day seminar was on the use of economic analysis in merger and abuse of dominant position cases - in particular, through excessive pricing practices also in digital markets - on the one hand, and on the presentation of specific economic analysis techniques used in the assessment of mergers, on the other.

In particular, after referring to the role of economic analysis use in competition cases, the speakers covered issues addressed in the assessment of mergers, such as market definition and unilateral effects of an forthcoming merger, describing specific indicators used in assessing the impact of mergers on the prices of the products concerned (UPP, GUPPI, IPR).

With regard to the abuse of a dominant position, the speakers approached the matter of excessive pricing by making reference to specific important cases (United Brands, Scandlines v. Port of Helsingborg, Pfizer-Flynn Pharma), while, regarding digital markets, they raised specific concerns in respect of dominant position matters and they described the existing potential and challenges related to the use of economic theory and economic analysis tools in the assessment of these markets.

Subsequently, further focusing on mergers, the speakers described in detail a number of economic techniques used in merger assessment. In particular, they analysed issues arising in market definition and how price correlations can lead to erroneous assessments, described in detail how to calculate the indicators used in assessing impacts on prices, and developed demand assessment issues.

Finally, the speakers addressed the issue of mergers through the analysis of models using homogeneous and differentiated products. The seminar concluded with a practical part, where the techniques that had previously been theoretically presented were better demonstrated by specific examples and a merger case between two undertakings that produce more than one product.