Beyond markups: understanding changes to competition, concentration, and market power

ESRC Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) collaborative doctoral studentship.

The Department of Economics, the University of Oxford with the Competition and Markets Authority.

SUPERVISORS

Professor Howard Smith, The University of Oxford

Jakob Schneebacher, Competition and Markets Authority

PROJECT OVERVIEW

In recent years, there has been a growing empirical literature on changes to market concentration and market power. Alternative methods for measuring these changes have been developed. While many studies show that markups have increased, there is a lack of understanding of the mechanisms driving these changes, and there are important methodological caveats. There is no consensus on whether competition has become more or less intense, which matters in terms of welfare and policy implications.

This PhD project aims to address this limitation of the literature: digging deeper to develop and understanding of the underlying mechanisms causing changes in in market power. To achieve this the project would go beyond measuring markups and look at changes that caused the changes to markups. it is anticipated that the econometric analysis will mainly adopt a structural empirical IO approach. The project may take a single-industry demand-side approach or a production function approach, or a combination of these. The data may include demand-side marketing data, or plant-level census data. When choosing applications it seems most policy-relevant to consider markets where merger activity has been most active, and to study the consequences of mergers.

The main constraint on the feasibility of the project is data availability. There are a number of datasets that are potentially available including ONS ARDx plant-level data, financial data, demand side data (the availability of which depends on the market selected for study), and datasets of merger cases e.g. the CMA’s text analysis datasets based on competition authority merger case documents.

The candidate should have an excellent background in economics and have completed a masters in economics with a strong performance.

PARTNERSHIP

The successful candidate will receive regular supervision and guidance from experienced researchers in the CMA Microeconomics Unit and could have a formal or informal co-advisor in the Microeconomics Unit. Subject to the standard Civil Service nationality and security clearance requirements, they would also be offered a secondment with the Unit. This would allow them to access CMA workspaces and to work together on applied empirical research projects of joint interest. Finally, collaborating with the CMA would give the student access to many pathways to seek feedback and disseminate their research among policymakers.

STUDENTSHIP DETAILS

The PhD studentship will be funded by the Grand Union DTP for an expected 3.5 years (or part-time equivalent) from October 2025. The award length offered may differ depending on the candidate’s prior training and how they meet ESRC training requirements. The part-time option is only available to students with a Home status, or those that do not require a Visa for study in the UK.

Information about Grand Union DTP ESRC studentships and eligibility can be found on the Grand Union DTP website.

APPLICATION DEADLINE

12:00 midday UK time on 28 January 2025

HOW TO APPLY

To apply for the studentship, you must submit an application to study for a DPhil Economics at the University of Oxford. Details about applying can be found via https://www.economics.ox.ac.uk/dphil-in-economics

Your application should include a research proposal that indicates how your proposed research would engage with the core elements of this project if you were offered the studentship. Your proposal may draw on the description of the research detailed above.

In addition you must complete a Grand Union DTP Application Form and upload it, together with your graduate application form. Please ensure you also select 'ESRC Grand Union DTP Studentships in Social Sciences' in the University of Oxford scholarships section of the University's graduate application form.

The admissions process is in two parts: applications will be assessed by the institution and the selected candidate will then be assessed as part of the applicant pool for ESRC Grand Union DTP funding.

QUERIES

For queries about this studentship, please contact Professor Howard Smith: howard.smith@economics.ox.ac.uk