Interchange Fees: Optimal Regulation

     

Panelists analyzed various theories on interchange, focusing in particular on the tourist test. Vergé noted that the tourist test doesn’t work well in all circumstances, but cost-based merchant interchange fees aren’t necessarily the right approach either. Calvano produced the punch line that while simple is good, unfortunately, there is neither a simple rule for interchange regulation, nor reason to believe that “simple rule” is better than “no rule.” Heimler advocated that the elimination of the interchange fee is an objective to be achieved by antitrust enforcement while Delgado examined the payments regulatory environment in his country.

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Emilio Calvano

 

Alberto Heimler

 

Emilio Calvano, a young researcher in the field of economics, graduated in Economics from Bocconi in 2003. He holds a PhD from Toulouse University in France. In 2007, he moved to the United States where he conducted research and worked at Harvard University and Microsoft Research. Read More

Alberto Heimler is professor of economics at the Scuola Superiore della pubblica amministrazione (the Italian School of Government), on leave from the Italian Competition Authority. Read More

Thibaud Vergé joined the Autorité de la Concurrence as Chief economist in February 2010. PhD in economics (University of Toulouse) and a graduate of the École Polytehcnique, Thibaud Vergé was previously lecturer in economics at the University of Bristol (2000-02) and the University of Southampton (2002-05) before joining CREST (Paris). Read More

Juan Delgado has been until May 2011 the first Chief Economist of the Spanish Competition Commission CNC. As Chief Economist, he provided advice in monopolization cases, cartels and mergers and also took part in the advocacy agenda and the positioning of the agency in the context of new policy developments and discussions. Read More