Excessive pricing regulations under the Covid-19 crisis
On 19 March 2020, the Minister of Trade and Industry published regulations in the Government Gazette, pertaining to the pricing and supply of certain consumer and medical products and services during the Covid-19 national disaster period. Some of the regulations relate to the Competition Act’s provisions on excessive pricing. In this short opinion piece, Prof Willem Boshoff provides a high-level economics commentary. You can access the link here.
CCLE joins centenary celebrations in October
This year the Department of Economics at Stellenbosch University is celebrating its 100th birthday. Over the week of 5-10 October a range of events are planned, which will showcase the breadth and depth of the Department’s research expertise and social impact. As part of the celebrations, the CCLE will be hosting a colloquium on South African competition policy on Saturday 10 October. The CCLE co-directors, Prof Willem Boshoff and Prof Philip Sutherland, will be joined by CCLE affiliates Prof Nicola Theron, Extraordinary Professor in the Department, and Prof Liberty Mncube, Honorary Professor in the Department. For more information on the centenary, visit: www.econcentenary.com
Call for applications
The CCLE now invites applications from prospective PhD candidates from South Africa and other countries outside of Africa to apply for a three-year scholarship for full-time study towards a PhD in the Department of Economics at Stellenbosch University. In particular, the CCLE is interested in candidates wishing to pursue doctoral research with the following theme: Econometrics and statistical learning techniques for detection of anti-competitive behaviour and estimation of associated damages The scholarship application process is administered via the Graduate School of Economic and Management Sciences of Stellenbosch University (GEM). Successful candidates must pass the GEM selection process and this institution (and not the CCLE) will make the final award decisions. In the absence of good applications, GEM may not award any scholarship on a CCLE-related topic. The application process and criteria are explained and application documents are available at http://www.sun.ac.za/english/faculty/economy/gem/gem-scholars/prospective. Prior to completing the application, prospective candidates are requested to contact Prof Willem Boshoff, co-director of the CCLE and the designated supervisor for prospective doctoral candidates, to discuss whether the CCLE would be willing to consider their application. Due to the nature of the topic, candidates are expected to have excellent marks in graduate econometrics/statistics/mathematics from reputable institutions, in addition to the other requirements [...]
Call for post-doc applications
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship 2019/2020 The Centre for Competition Law and Economics, in the Department of Economics at Stellenbosch University, hereby invite applications for a twelve-month, full-time postdoctoral research fellowship. Requirements Applicants should hold a PhD in economics, with specialization in industrial organization or antitrust. Applicants holding PhDs from North American, European, Australasian or South African institutions will be considered. The research of applicants should focus on theoretical or empirical topics related to anti-competitive conduct. The successful applicant will be expected to collaborate with staff and doctoral students of the centre on new research projects, participate in all centre activities, and must actively pursue publication of existing and new research. The candidate is expected to take up residency in Stellenbosch. The working language is English. Period The starting date is September 2019, but negotiable. The position may be renewed for one further year, depending on other applications, the applicant’s performance and the availability of funding. Benefits A maximum scholarship amount of R360,000 is available for the twelve-month period. The final scholarship offer depends on the CCLE. Note that living expenses in euro/dollar terms are lower in Stellenbosch compared to the EU or the US. Information about Stellenbosch Stellenbosch is located about [...]
Call for applications
The CCLE now invites applications from prospective PhD candidates from African countries (outside South Africa) to apply for a three-year scholarship for full-time study towards a PhD in the Department of Economics at Stellenbosch University. In particular, the CCLE is interested in candidates wishing to pursue doctoral research with the following theme: Econometrics and statistical learning techniques for detection of anti-competitive behaviour and estimation of associated damages The scholarship application process is administered via the Graduate School of Economic and Management Sciences of Stellenbosch University (GEM) and is funded by DAAD. Successful candidates must pass the GEM and DAAD selection processes and these institutions (and not the CCLE) make the final award decisions. In the absence of good applications, GEM/DAAD may not award any scholarship on a CCLE-related topic. The application process and criteria are explained and application documents are available at http://www.sun.ac.za/english/faculty/economy/gem/gem-scholars/prospective. Prior to completing the application, prospective candidates are requested to contact Prof Willem Boshoff, co-director of the CCLE and the designated supervisor for prospective doctoral candidates, to discuss whether the CCLE would be willing to consider their application. Due to the nature of the topic, candidates are expected to have excellent marks in graduate econometrics/statistics/mathematics from reputable [...]
CCLE participates in public hearings on the Competition Amendment Bill
On Wednesday 29 August, the CCLE participated in the public hearings on the Competition Amendment Bill. This followed a letter sent to the Portfolio Committee on Economic Development on the final version of the Bill. Prof Boshoff and Prof Sutherland, the co-directors of the CCLE, discussed aspects of concentration and its relation to competition, and also made a set of comments on the market inquiry provisions. Visit the engagement page to download all the relevant documents concerning this matter.