Between Industrial Policy, Platform Economics and Artificial Intelligence
Dates and News
30.03.2026
A Look Back at the MaCCI Annual Conference 2026
On 19 and 20 March 2026, Mannheim Centre for Competition and Innovation (MaCCI) hosted its 15th Annual Conference at ZEW Mannheim. It brought together around 130 researchers and practitioners who discussed current developments in competition and innovation research.
This year’s programme featured two keynote lectures, several special sessions and a variety of parallel sessions with contributions from theoretical and empirical research. The German Association of Antitrust Lawyers (Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht), the German Federal Cartel Office and the European Commission (DG Comp) had invited speakers and panellist to the special sessions. The conference covered a broad range of topics, including competition law, merger control, platform markets, economics of innovation and the ever-increasing importance of Artificial Intelligence for competition and regulation.
In the parallel sessions on the first conference day, researchers presented their works on topics such as auctions, innovation, market power, contract design and negotiation. A particular focus was on current developments in competition policy, which were discussed, for example, during a special session on merger cases before the Federal Cartel Office. Other sessions looked into oligopoly theory, investment decision-making and the role of environmental policy in transport markets. The growing importance of AI was reflected in several contributions on topics such as algorithmic collusion and AI systems in competitive environments.
The German Association of Antitrust Lawyers had organised a panel discussion on suitable economic approaches in an increasingly multipolar system of competition enforcement. In addition, parallel sessions discussed a variety of topics, such as collusion, search markets, intangible assets and business performance.
Lecture by Jean Tirole on Industrial Policy and Innovation
The first highlight of the day was the Economic Keynote Lecture, which was held this year by Jean Tirole (Toulouse School of Economics). Tirole explored the impact of industrial policy on innovation and discussed the interplay of state intervention and market-based competition.
Heike Schweitzer Keynote Lecture: The Limits of Antitrust Revisited: Humility, Legitimacy, Justice
Another highlight was the Heike Schweitzer Keynote Lecture, which was held by Cani Fernández Vicién, President of the Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission. She spoke about the limits and potential of modern competition policy and addressed the issues of legitimacy, justice and restraint in the context of antitrust law.
The lecture focused on how antitrust law needs to be structured to reflect an increasingly complex economic and political environment and to ensure that existing standards are implemented as effectively as possible. In this context, Fernández Vicién emphasised the need for a balanced approach that combines economic analysis with legal and social considerations.
Second Conference Day: Platform Markets, Mergers and Digital Behaviour
The second day of the conference was dedicated to platform markets, merger control and consumer behaviour. In several sessions, participants discussed current issues relating to platform governance, strategic consumer behaviour, the impact of corporate takeovers and data-driven business models. Other sessions addressed topics such as algorithmic design, competition between platforms and consumer behaviour in online markets.
A panel organised by the Association of Antitrust Lawyers focused in particular on non-price restrictions on competition, such as no-poach agreements, and discussed aspects of innovation competition. In addition, a special session hosted by the European Commission (DG COMP) provided insights into current case law, including in the areas of large mergers and digital markets.
