About ENCORE

The international research network ENCORE (Economics Network for Competition and Regulation) was launched in 2003.

The founding institutions of ENCORE are:

Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs (DG Telecommunications and Post of the Netherlands Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management – one of the founding institutions – was incorporated into the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the summer of 2002);
Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa);
Netherlands Independent Post and Telecommunications Authority (OPTA).

The main objective of ENCORE is to exploit the available scientific knowledge on competition and regulation to benefit and improve policy making. Formal and informal channels are used to answer general and specific policy questions drawing on economic models and results.

ENCORE also acts as an intermediary in commissioning strategic and applied research and is instrumental in stimulating undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate teaching in the area of competition and regulation.

Knowledge and research capacity in the field of competition and regulation economics are somewhat limited and fragmented in the Netherlands. Furthermore, the link between research and policy-making could be improved. Another area where improvements could be made is in the training of researchers and employees in competition and regulation economics. The existing coordination problems in the labour and research market are interdependent: without high-quality training there will be no first-class researchers, and without first-class researchers there will be no high-quality training. The aim of the ENCORE initiative is to enhance both the training and the research in these fields.

ENCORE is located at the University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics and Business.

The ENCORE staff consists of:

Prof. dr. Maarten Pieter Schinkel, Director
José Kiss, M.Sc., Network Assistant