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This research focuses on the impact of various types of infrastructures on firm-level competitiveness and economic performance in general.  In particular, it investigates the role of modern regional and supra-regional infrastructure in economic growth, the competitiveness of firms, and employment.  The most important issue addressed is therefore to establish, and possibly quantify, the link between various types of infrastructure investments and economic performance or development.

Many decisions that affect economic life are not made in markets but in political processes. The research in this project aims at improving our understanding of how these processes work. In particular we investigate how the institutional environment in which policy is made shapes the outcome of the political processes. In doing this, we consider formal influence channels (such as elections and referenda) as well as informal ones (such as lobbying). The project also studies the related issue of how different political institutions can handle credibility problems in economic policy. Both theoretical and empirical approaches are employed. In the theoretical work, special emphasis is put on the role of information. Among the specific issues that are investigated are:

Network industries are often characterized by significant specific investment in infrastructure, localized competition, network externalities and a need to restructure.  Examples of industries with these properties are: telecommunications, energy, water, transportation, and financial services industries.  Liberalizing network industries leads to new challenges for firms and regulators.  Challenges to firms include the choice of entry, investment, standardization, and pricing strategies.  Regulatory challenges include the regulation of network access, universal services and prices.  At the same time competition policy becomes more important to ensure effective competition through action against anti-competitive behavior and merger control.  This project analyzes the need and the design o

Information- and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have revolutionized existing industries spurring productivity and growth.  At the same time, they have allowed firms to bring new products and services to the markets giving way to new information industries.  Examples include Internet services, mobile telecommunications, and software industries.  These industries share special features, such as low marginal production costs, network effects, and complementarities, which have important implications for firms’ conduct and competition policy.  In this project we analyze both: the impact of ICTs on established industries, as well as the functioning of information industries.  In particular, we study issues such as:

Governments influence firm' behavior not only via public provision of goods and services or public consumption but also through taxes, subsidies and regulation.  Among the reasons for these governmental activities are dissatisfaction with certain firm activities (e.g. pollution) and an interest in encouraging other activities (e.g. R&D), concerns about market power and collusive firm behavior, market failures and the influence of interest groups.