Keynotes:

·   Achim Wambach (Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) and German
    Monopolies Commission)
·   Philipp Steinberg (German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy)

The long-term development of business concentration and market power has recently attracted considerable international attention among researchers and policy makers. The reason is current empirical research, which observes an intersectoral increase in the concentration and markups of companies, and thus a decrease in the intensity of competition, especially in the USA. In view of these findings, a possible link between reduced competition between companies and macroeconomic trends, such as a productivity growth slowdown, a declining labor share or rising income inequality, is currently being discussed.  Until recently, just a few studies were available in this area that focus on European economies. This lack of evidence for Germany and Europe is currently motivating many empirical research projects. This workshop is intended to contribute to the academic discussion as well as the research transfer. The workshop language will be English.

We welcome empirical contributions that deal with the following topics and focus on Germany and/or Europe:
·       Trends in business concentration (that may also include corporate links such as
         minority shareholdings)
·        Markup and revenue developments
·        Measurement issues of intersectoral market power indicators
·        Macroeconomic and policy implications of changes in the aforementioned
         indicators

Participants will be invited (but not required) to contribute their papers to a refereed Special Issue of the Journal of Economics and Statistics / Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und StatistikPlease find the separate call for papers for the Special Issue attached.

Please send submissions (papers or extended abstracts) and/or registrations until December 15 to both:
Torben Stühmeier (torben.stuehmeier@bertelsmann-stiftung.de)
John Weche (john.weche@monopolkommission.bund.de)

The workshop will start at 10 pm and a detailed program will be published in due course.