Pricing, algorithms and competition
22 April 2025
Venue:
Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary
14.00-14.10: Welcome by Pál Szilágyi (Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Competition Law Research Centre)
14.10-14.45: Joseph Harrington (University of Pennsylvania – Wharton): Impact of third-party pricing algorithms on market competition
14.45-15.20: Heski Bar-Isaac (University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management): Algorithms, Learning, and Pricing
Short break
15.30-16.05: Ioannis Lianos (University College London, former President of the Hellenic Competition Commission): Technological advancement, algorithms and the challenges of competition law enforcement
16.05-16.40: Aviv Nevo (University of Pennsylvania, former Director US FTC Bureau of Economics): Pricing and technology: competition concerns and case experience
16.40-17.30: Roundtable discussion moderated by Zombor Berezvai (Corvinus University of Budapest)
Speakers

Pál Szilágyi
Director of the Competition Law Research Center and Associate Professor of Law and Political Science at Pázmány Péter Catholic University, where he teaches competition law & policy and European Union law. He obtained his law degree at PPKE JÁK, then obtained postgraduate diploma in European law at the University of Cambridge, competition law at King's College London, and an LL.M. in Competition Law degree at the latter institution. Pál is the program director of the PPKE JÁK competition law specialist training, the author of numerous domestic and foreign publications.

Joseph Harrington
Joe Harrington is the Patrick T. Harker Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at Wharton.
Professor Harrington has published more than 75 articles and his research has appeared in many leading journals including the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Econometrica, Management Science, and American Journal of Sociology. His current research focuses on collusion and cartels, with the objectives of understanding observed collusive practices, developing observable markers of collusion, and designing competition policy to detect and deter collusion. His research is on the interface of theory and practice and has been presented before competition authorities throughout the world including those of Chile, European Union, Japan, South Africa, and the U.S. He has also published two textbooks: Economics of Regulation and Antitrust (4th edition, MIT Press) with Kip Viscusi and John Vernon, and Games, Strategies, and Decision Making (2nd edition, Worth Publishers).

Heski Bar-Isaac
Heski Bar-Isaac is a Professor of Integrative Thinking, Finance, and Economic Analysis and Policy, and a Distinguished Professor of Economics and Finance.
He has published in leading journals in economics, finance, and marketing including the American Economics Review, Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Financial Economics, Management Science and Marketing Science. He currently serves as an editor of the Economic Journal and has served on the boards of a number of journals including the American Economic Review. His research is in applied microeconomic theory, including work on reputation, vertical restraints, and search. He is currently serving as Special Economic Advisor on Digital and Platform Markets at the Canadian Competition Bureau.

Ioannis Lianos
Ioannis Lianos is Professor, Chair of Global Competition Law and Public Policy at the Faculty of Laws, University College London. He is a member of the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal since 2024. He was President of the Hellenic Competition Commission from August 2019 to January 2024. Ioannis was elected a member of the Bureau of the OECD Competition Committee in 2021 and re-elected in 2022 and 2023. He was also a member of the EU High Level Group for the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and he was part of the Greek delegation during the negotiations for the adoption of the DMA.

Aviv Nevo
Professor Nevo is a Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor with appointments in the Economics Department is SAS and the Marketing department in Wharton.
His research focuses empirical Industrial Organization, Marketing, Antitrust and Competition Economics, and Econometrics. His past work has focused on estimating the demand for consumer packaged goods and the implications for price competition, mergers, and marketing. He has also done research in the areas of health economics, health care, telecom, and real estate.
He is a fellow of the Econometric Society, a research associate of NBER, an international research fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London, and co-editor of Econometrica.
Professor Nevo earned a Ph.D. in 1997 and AM in 1994 in economics from Harvard University and a BSc with Special Honors in mathematics and economics from Tel Aviv University in 1991.
He came to Penn from Northwestern, where he taught since 2004, as part as of the Penn Integrates Knowledge program.

Zombor Berezvai
Zombor Berezvai is Chief Economist at the Hungarian Competition Authority and Associate Professor at Corvinus University of Budapest. Prior to his academic career, he worked at Procter & Gamble as a finance manager and at Planslab as a senior consultant in charge of several projects. He teaches econometrics, data-driven decision making, market research and competition policy at various universities in Hungary. His research interests include competition policy, micromobility, economics of education, public health and cultural tourism. He has published several papers in high-ranking journals and received prestigious awards such as the Academic Youth Award of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 2023, the Corvinus Research Excellence Award in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, and the Outstanding Paper Literati Award of Emerald in 2020.