Dr Matthew Olczak

Lecturer

Economics and Strategy Group

Phone:+44(0)121 204 3107
Email: m.olczak@aston.ac.uk
Room: SW1017

Profile

I joined Aston Business School in September 2009 shortly after submitting my PhD thesis on ‘Firm Numbers, Asymmetries and Competition’, undertaken at the University of East Anglia under the supervision of Professor Stephen Davies. I also previously worked as a Research Associate at the University of East Anglia ESRC Centre for Competition Policy.

Qualifications & Education

BA Economics, University of East Anglia, 2001
MA Industrial Economics, University of East Anglia, 2002

Employment

2002 – 2009: Research Associate, ESRC Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia

Teaching Activity

Undergraduate teaching:

BS1163 Introduction to Microeconomics
BS3362 Competition Policy and Regulation

Further Information on these courses is available here >

Research Interests

My current research interests include:

Tacit collusion in EC merger decisions
Differences between tacit and explicit collusion
The efficacy of merger remedies
Examining competition between chain-store and independent retailers using empirical entry models
The Impact of ending Resale Price Maintenance in the UK book industry

Selected Publications

Davies, S.W., Olczak, M., and Coles, H., (2010). Tacit collusion, firm asymmetries and numbers: evidence from EC merger cases. Forthcoming in the International Journal of Industrial Organization.

Davies, S.W., and Olczak, M., (2010). Assessing the efficacy of structural merger remedies: choosing between theories of harm, Review of Industrial Organization, 37, 83-99.

Tacit versus overt collusion. Firm asymmetries and numbers: what’s the evidence? (with S.Davies), Competition Policy International, 4(2), Autumn, 175-200, 2008.

An evaluation of the impact upon productivity of ending resale price maintenance on books (with S.Davies, C.Ball and C.Wilson), Report for the OFT, No. 981, 2008.

Benefits from competition: some UK cases (with S.Davies), Economic Review, 24(1), 17-21, 2006.

Benefits from competition: some illustrative UK cases (with S.Davies, H.Coles, C.Pike and C.Wilson), Report for the DTI, Economics Paper No. 9, 2004.

Working papers

Chain-store pricing and the structure of retail markets, CCP Working Paper 06-7, 2006.
Hviid, M., and Olczak, M. (2010). Raising rivals’ fixed costs.
Olczak, M., (2010). Unilateral versus coordinated effects: comparing the impact on consumer welfare of alternative merger outcomes, CCP Working Paper No. 10-3.

Work in Progress

An empirical investigation into the role of recommended retail prices in the UK book industry (with S.Davies).

The impact of recommended retail prices on bilateral bargaining and retail pricing.

Evaluating the impact of a web based resource on the student learning experience (with D.Saal).