2026 Conference on Markets for Regulation

As part of the seminar series on external page New Institutional Economics, the Center for Law & Economics at ETH Zurich co-organizes this year's conference on Markets for Regulation at the Study Center Gerzensee from May 25 to 28, 2026.

The conferences series external page International Seminars on the New Institutional Economics has been running since 1982. The 2026 Conference on “Markets for Regulation” explores the complex and often surprising relationship between business and regulation. While regulation is typically seen as a constraint on markets, industries may actively support or even seek regulatory frameworks when these help structure competition, establish standards, reduce uncertainty, or enable innovation—particularly in areas shaped by network effects or quality assurance. At the same time, regulation can be used strategically by firms to limit competition, influence policymaking, or create barriers to entry, while regulators themselves may have institutional incentives that shape outcomes. Bringing together perspectives from law, economics, and political science, the conference invites both theoretical and empirical contributions to better understand the diverse motivations behind regulatory dynamics across industries.

Presenters at the conference will be external page Patrick Bolton (Imperial College London), external page Martin Hellwig (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods), external page Dan Klerman (University of Southern California), external page Kathryn Spier (Harvard University), external page Tommaso Valletti (Imperial College London) & external page Tim Wu (Columbia University).

Participation by invitation only.