In this episode we talk to Philipp Heller, expert on mergers, antitrust and competition to elaborate on why game theory is relevant to merger analysis. We discuss how game theory can help predict effects of market consolidations for some of the most prominent examples in recent years. While the intended merger of Vonovia and its largest rival Deutsche Wohnen, which would have formed the largest residential-property company in the whole of Europe, was recently rejected by shareholders, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) gave its blessing to the transaction. We explain some ideas from game theory that are useful for antitrust authorities like the FCO when analysing this and other mergers. Philipp Heller is an Associate Director at NERA Economic Consulting. There he has focused on topics such as cartel damages litigation, national and international merger notifications, and regulatory procedures. Previously Philipp completed his PhD in Economics at Humboldt University of Berlin.

In this episode Julien Combe, professor of Economics at École Polytechnique, walks us through the intricacies of finding the right matching mechanism for kidney exchanges. We talk about general challenges when trying to find a match, the impact of different regulations in different countries and how a single altruistic donor can set off a whole chain of successful exchanges. Julien Combe is professor at the Department of Economics at École Polytechnique in France. In his research he focuses on market design and especially the design of efficient allocation mechanisms in various environments. Among other things the results of his research help inform policy makers and regulators in France when it comes to matching markets.

In this episode Marc Robinson, strategy and risk management expert, takes us back to when he first applied game theory to real-life business problems at General Motors. He shares his insights on how to identify problems well suited for game theoretic tools as well as benefits and common misconceptions when applying them to negotiations of all kinds. Marc Robinson now works as an independent strategy and risk management consultant, following a career as an internal consultant and economist at General Motors. It was there that he first introduced game theoretic concepts and tools, applying them to a vast range of applications such as strategic product or investment decisions, or negotiations with partners, suppliers, and unions. He also taught at UCLA and Stanford and worked on the Council of Economic Advisers under President George H.W. Bush.

In order to advance the “green revolution”, the EU has set some ambitious goals to drastically increase renewable energies in their energy portfolio. Part of that strategy is to award “support” (i.e. state subsidies) to renewable energy projects. Today’s guest Marion Ott explains to us how these subsidies are allocated, which rules are discussed to improve this process and their (unintended) effects. In particular, we are discussing “endogenous rationing”, which tries to increase competition in the subsidies tenders by artificially reducing the supply. Marion Ott is researcher at the ZEW and member of the research department "Market Design". Her work is focussed on auction and market design. You can find details on her current research activities on her homepage https://www.zew.de/team/mot In particular, Marion recently published two papers on endogenous rationing, which you can find here https://www.zew.de/publikationen/a-small-volume-reduction-that-melts-down-the-market-auctions-with-endogenous-rationing (in English) and here https://www.zew.de/publikationen/endogene-rationierung-in-ausschreibungen-fuer-erneuerbare-energien (in German only).

In April this year some of the best European football clubs announced their plans to create a "Super League". Plans which were crushed unanimously by both players and fans alike only a couple of days later. In this episode we talk to Jan Eeckhout, Professor of Economics, about the Super League from an Economics perspective. We discuss which economic considerations may have influenced the idea to create a Super League, how the League could have impacted market power, and how these effects translate more generally to labour markets with dominant players like Amazon. Jan Eeckhout is Professor of Economics at UPF Barcelona with a research focus on labour markets and author of the book "The Profit Paradox. How Thriving Firms Threaten the Future of Work" (https://www.theprofitparadox.com/).

From the prisoners’ dilemma to the Chicken Game: we all know the entertaining and powerful stories from game theory that help us to quickly identify the strategic core of a given situation. Today’s guest David McAdams explains to us that - while these simplified stories are very useful – they might lead to wrong predictions and recommendations when used in the wrong context. David also gives some practical examples from his work as a professor and consultant (e.g. on vaccine distribution in the current pandemic, and the fight against antibiotic resistance of so-called super-bugs), and we see that choosing the right underlying story and collecting the correct initial data are crucial prerequisites to the success of a game theoretic analysis. David McAdams is Professor of Economics and Professor of Business Administration at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, and author of the book “Game-Changer: Game Theory and the Art of Transforming Strategic Situations”. David mentions several interesting research topics in the outlook of the interview. Here are the links to the corresponding papers (some behind a paywall): o Learning through the grapevine: The Impact of Message Mutation, Transmission Failure, and Deliberate Bias: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3391403.3399521 o Social Networks and the Market for News: https://sites.duke.edu/rachelkranton/files/2020/04/Social-Networks-and-the-Market-for-News-Kranton-McAdams-April-2020.pdf o Viral Social Learning: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3299129 In addition, you can learn more about David’s current research activities on his homepage.