Commissioned Research

Commissioned research exists because some questions need an answer that is independent and defensible, not an opinion from someone with a stake in the result. A competition authority deciding on a merger, a court weighing a damages claim, or a ministry reviewing a policy all need analysis they can rely on. The result must stand up to scrutiny, so the methods are rigorous and the reasoning is written down in full.

The work changes with the question. A competition case might mean estimating how prices would move if two firms merged. A policy evaluation might mean measuring whether a subsidy changed behaviour. A legal dispute might mean quantifying lost profits. Large cases run for months and may be presented to a regulator or in court, while smaller studies end with a written report.

The work is heavily quantitative. The main tools are econometric methods, statistics, and programming in Python, R, or Stata, applied to economic and market data. Because the analysis is often challenged by the other side in a case, every step has to be clear and reproducible. Beyond the technical work, researchers need to explain complex results to lawyers, officials, or judges who are not economists.

In the Netherlands, this work is tied to bodies such as the competition authority ACM, the ministries, and the courts, with most firms based around Amsterdam and the Hague. It overlaps with Academia and Research Institutes, but is done for a paying client under a deadline rather than for publication. It also connects to Strategy Consultancy and Data Consultancy, which use similar analysis for different ends. Relevant skills include econometrics, microeconomics, and clear writing.