Pricing in petrol markets
2025-11-18 12:15 - 13:30 (Europe/Oslo) | Room E209/E210, Department of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics, Helleveien 30, Bergen, Norway
BECCLE would like to welcome you to this joint BECCLE and NHH (Micro research group) seminar on the pricing in petrol markets, which will take place at NHH on November 18.
For a long time there has been debate in many countries about the pricing in petrol markets. One question that has been frequently discussed, is whether the petrol price cycles that have been observed in many countries, is a sign of competition or collusion. At this seminar, Yiming Liu will discuss pricing behavior in petrol markets, with a particular focus on how behavioral models can help us to understand the toughness of price competition in these markets.
Yiming Liu, post doc at the Humboldt University of Berlin.
Title: Pricing in petrol markets
Speaker: Yiming Liu, post doc at the University of Humboldt
Date and time: November 18, 12.15-13.30
Location: Department of Economics at NHH, Room E209/E210
Abstract of paper:
We show how cognitive constraints systematically shape pricing behavior in a firm with over 20,000 gas stations. Consistent with insights from behavioral models of bounded rationality, station managers with lower cognitive skills have biased mental models. These underestimate competitor sophistication and competitor retaliation for price cuts, and thus place more confidence in the efficacy and profitability of low prices. In the field, managers with lower cognitive skills set lower prices, and engage in more price wars. The resulting lower prices reduce profits and producer surplus, but increase consumer surplus and improve overall market efficiency.

BECCLE-seminar om NOU 2025: Revidert konkurranselov
2025-12-17 10:00 | Auditorium 4, Det juridiske fakultet, UiB, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, Bergen, Hordaland, 5010, Norway
BECCLE ønskjer velkomen til seminar om den heilt ferske NOU-en om revidert konkurranselov. Seminaret finn stad 17. desember kl. 10:00–13:00 i Auditorium 4 ved Det juridiske fakultet, Universitetet i Bergen.
Seminaret opnar med ei innleiing ved Kristin Hjelmaas Valla, utvalsleiar, som vil presentere dei sentrale forslaga til endringar som utvalet legg fram. Deretter følgjer ein paneldebatt med deltakarar frå både offentleg forvaltning, akademia og privat næringsliv.
Paneldeltakarar:

Kristin Hjelmaas Valla, utvalsleiar og partnar i Advokatfirmaet Kvale
Hans Petter Håvås Hanson, utvalsmedlem og sjefsøkonom i Konkurransetilsynet
Ronny Gjendemsjø, leiar av BECCLE og professor ved Det juridiske fakultet, UiB
Helge Stemshaug, partnar i Advokatfirmaet BAHR
Karin Fløistad, leiar av Konkurranseklagenemnda og advokat
Marte Brathovde, advokatfullmektig hos Regjeringsadvokaten

Moderator: Lars Sørgard, styreleiar ved BECCLE og professor i økonomi ved NHH.

Det blir enkel servering.
Påmelding for både fysiske og digitale deltakarar:
Meld deg på via lenka under innan 12. desember:
påmelding avsluttet
Streaming
Seminaret blir direktesendt her: https://uib.zoom.us/j/67245423982?pwd=[REDACTED]
VELKOMMEN!

Private Enforcement of Competition Law
2026-03-05 10:00 | Hordaland
Private enforcement of competition law, particularly through damages actions, has grown significantly across Europe over the past decade. Yet striking the right balance between effective public enforcement and safeguarding the rights of parties harmed by anticompetitive conduct remains a challenge. Despite important legislative initiatives, such as the Damages Directive from 2014, access to justice through national courts varies considerably across jurisdictions.
A key reason is the lack of full harmonization. Procedural autonomy continues to allow divergent national approaches to issues such as litigation funding, disclosure rules, and the balance between protecting leniency applicants and enabling effective claimant actions.
In this seminar, BECCLE is proud to bring together leading practitioners and scholars in the field of competition law. The programme will provide insight into the current regulatory framework, covering EU, EEA, and Norwegian perspectives, and examine a broad range of issues related to private enforcement of competition law. Drawing on practical experience, speakers will discuss how to build a claimant’s case and share concrete case examples, including insights from the UK system and the latest developments from Brussels.
The seminar will be chaired by Thomas Vinje, Senior Counsel at Clifford Chance and external affiliate at the University of Bergen. He will be joined by Nivi Balaji, Counsel at Clifford Chance; Sean Ennis, Professor at Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia; and BECCLE’s own Associate Professor Ingrid Barlund.

Title: Private Enforcement of Competition Law
Date and time: Thursday March 5, 10.00 – 11.30
Location: Auditorium 4, Faculty of Law, University of Bergen
The seminar will be streamed, Zoom link

BECCLE seminar om økonomiske eksperters rolle i den private håndhevelsen av konkurransereglene
2026-04-16 14:00 - 15:30 | Auditorium 4, Det juridiske fakultet, UiB, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, Bergen, Hordaland, 5010, Norway
BECCLE inviterer til seminar om økonomiske eksperters rolle i saker om erstatning for brudd på konkurransereglene den 16. april kl. 14:00 til 1530. Frode Steen (NHH og BECCLE) og Lars Sørgard (NHH og BECCLE) som begge har vært involvert i denne typen saker som ekspertvitner eller domstolsoppnevnte eksperter, vil innlede om temaet.
Det siste ti-året har vi sett en økt aktivitet hva angår erstatningssaker som følger av brudd på konkurranseloven. I slike saker er det krevende å beregne tapet for kundene som følge av bruddet på konkurransereglene. Anslag på tap som følge av konkurransebrudd, i den grad det skal beregnes, vil typisk bli gjort av økonomiske eksperter. I dette seminaret vil vi gjennom to eksempler belyse hvilken rolle økonomiske eksperter kan ha i erstatningssaker. Den ene saken omhandler ulovlig prissamarbeid i lastebilmarkedet i flere europeiske land, en sak som har gått for retten i Norge. Den andre saken omhandler misbruk av dominans i markedet for elektrisk kraft i Danmark, en sak som har gått for retten i Danmark.

Frode Steen er professor i samfunnsøkonomi ved Institutt for Samfunnsøkonomi på NHH, og er nå leder for NHHs forskningsprogram FOOD på NHH som er finansiert av NorgesGruppen. Hans forskning og undervisning omhandler konkurranse, og han har vært mye brukt som ekspertvitne i konkurransesaker. Han representerte Posten i erstatningssøksmålet mot det såkalte lastebilkartellet som gikk for norske domstoler.

Lars Sørgard er professor i samfunnsøkonomi ved NHH, og hans forskning og undervisning omhandler konkurranse. Han var i perioden 2016-22 konkurransedirektør, og var i perioden 2022-25 leder for BECCLE. Han var skøndsmann (ekspert oppnevnt av retten) i saken om misbruk av dominans i markedet for elektrisk kraft i Danmark.

Tid: 16. april 2026 kl 14:00-15:30
Sted: Juridisk Fakultet, Universitetet i Bergen, Auditorium 4
Tema: Økonomiske eksperter i erstatningssaker
Innledere: Frode Steen og Lars Sørgard
The seminar will be streamed on Zoom

BECCLE Competition Policy Conference 2026
2026-06-04 08:00 - 2026-06-05 17:00 | Hordaland
Bergen Center for Competition Law and Economics (BECCLE) is pleased to announce the tenth annual conference on competition policy on 4-5 June 2026 in Bergen, Norway.
This year, the conference will take place at the Norwegian School of Economics. The conference will combine sessions with invited speakers with presentations and discussions of original research papers in the fields of competition law and competition economics.
The program will be available here as soon as it is finalised.
Time and date: 4th June at 08:30 until 5th of June at 15:45
Location: Norwegian School of Economics, Helleveien 30
Contact: For any questions, please contact the organizing committee by using the following email address: beccle@nhh.no
Registration
The BECCLE conference is now open for registration for persons not presenting a paper. The registration form is available here. Deadline for registration is 27 May.
There is no conference fee. We offer lunch free of charge to all attendees. The conference dinner is reserved speakers and invited guests.
The program is available here: https://beccle.no/files/2026/05/beccle_program_2026_v1.pdf
Keynote speakers and invited sessions
There will be two keynote speakers:

Maarten Pieter Schinkel, University of Amsterdam, Joint Pollutive Product Phase-Outs
Anne Witt, EDHEC Business School and EDHEC Augmented Law Institute, Excessive pricing and other unfair trading conditions — what’s the harm?

In addition, there will be three invited sessions on the following topics:
EU merger guidelines

John Kwoka (Northwestern University)
Chiara Fumagalli (Bocconi University)
Hans Zenger (European Commission)

The Ongoing Revision of Regulation 1/2003

Peter Whelan (University of Leeds)
Xandra Reintjes (European Commission)
Marie Östman (Swedish Competition Authority)

Merger Efficiencies and Remedies

Alon Eizenberg (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Christine Zulehner (University of Vienna)
Devesh Raval (Federal Trade Commission)

Transportation to and from the airport
There are multiple ways to get to the city center from the airport. The cheapest option is the Bergen Light Rail which can be paid for through an app or by buying a ticket from a ticket machine at the station.
A slightly faster option is the Airport Bus. Both the light rail and bus stop in the city center, close to Scandic Hotel Byparken.
