IESE Business School

The Abertis Chair of Regulation, Competition and Public Policy was created with the aim of developing research, generating ideas and increasing knowledge in the areas of regulation, competition and public policy. The findings of this research are intended to inspire and educate employers and managers.

The Chair was created in response to the commitment of both Abertis and IESE to the generation, promotion and discovery of new knowledge, both at an academic level and in its practical application to business management and the training of managers and employers. Both Abertis and IESE are convinced that the exchange of ideas between business and university institutions and the creation of a harmonized perspective provide effective tools in the advancement of society.

The research projects pursued by the Chair focus on the following issues:

• Corporate mergers, regulation and competition in Europe
• Regulatory mechanisms in the networks sectors
• Regulation of  the banking sector and financial markets
• Market structure and innovation
• Location of business headquarters

The Chair is held by Xavier Vives, Professor of Economics at IESE and Academic Director of IESE’s Public-Private Research Center.

Xavier Vives is Professor of Economics and Finance at IESE Business School, Research Professor (on leave) at ICREA-UPF (Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies at Pompeu Fabra University) and Research Professor for the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas or CSIC (Spanish National Research Council). 

Professor Vives earned a Doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in industrial economics, economics of information, banking and financial economics. He has been appointed to the European Commission’s Economic Advisory Group on Competition Policy, CESifo’s European Economic Advisory Group (Munich) and is member of the Steering Committee of the Association for Competition Economics and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. He is also Research Fellow at the Center for Economic Policy Research in London, where he held the post of Director of the Industrial Organization Program from 1991 to 1997. 

He served as Professor of Economics and Finance and The Portuguese Council Chaired Professor of European Studies at INSEAD (2001 - 2005). He held the position of Director of the Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC) in 1991 - 2001 and has taught at Harvard University, Universitat de Barcelona, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Pennsylvania and New York University (King Juan Carlos I Chair). 

He has written many articles for international publications and edited several books. The books he authored include “Oligopoly Pricing: Old Ideas and New Tools” (MIT Press, 1999). He was appointed editor of “Corporate Governance: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives” (Cambridge UP, 2000) and joint editor of “Capital Markets and Financial Intermediation” (Cambridge UP, 1993).  

Among other institutions, Vives has advised the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the European Commission. He has received the National “King Juan Carlos I” Award for Research in Social Sciences (1988), the “Societat Catalana d'Economia” Award (1996), the Government of Catalonia’s Narcís Monturiol Medal (2002) and the “Premi Catalunya d’Economia” (2005).

Professor Vives is currently Vice President of the Asociación Española de Economía Energética (Spanish Association of Energy Economics) and Fellow of the European Economic Association. He has been a member of the latter’s Executive Committee since 1992 and was made a member of the Board in 2006. He is also editor of the “Journal of the European Economic Association” and co-editor of the “Journal of Economics and Management Strategy.”

His current research work centers around the relationship between competition and innovation, regulation and banking crises, pricing on the financial markets, policies to defend competition and the location of business headquarters.

The Chair organizes the following activities:

• Symposia and international congresses. Regular meetings of experts from around the world to discuss issues of interest to the Chair’s research projects.
• Keynote Lectures. The Chair invites internationally renowned academics and business people to give educational presentations as part of IESE’s academic program. 
• Continuous Education Program. Some of the sessions in IESE’s Continuous Education Program (aimed at IESE Alumni and other members of the business community) are devoted to promoting and passing on the know-how developed by the Chair.

In the medium term, the Chair will develop specialist courses for IESE’s MBA and Executive MBA Programs. The Chair will also participate actively in program courses dealing with associated issues and will take part in the courses run by IESE’s Public-Private Research Center.