About the Author

My name is Jan Málek and I am passionate about competition policy and enforcement, particularly as regards mergers and acquisitions.

I am currently pursuing a PhD in economics at KU Leuven and DIW Berlin and I am also affiliated to FWO and BCCP. My research lies at the intersection of empirical industrial organization and innovation. In my dissertation, I examine the drivers of acquisition of R&D projects in the pharmaceutical industry and whether these transactions spur or kill innovation in the sector. I also look at the role of venture capital funds and their ability to generate innovation and promote competition. Before the start of my PhD, I have published research dealing with the assessment of renewable energy sources on electricity transmission networks.

Apart from my PhD, I have been actively involved as an economist on cases in several sectors (trucks, energy, insurance and reinsurance). I have held several part-time positions in consultancies in the Czech Republic and Germany and worked on a team of a monitoring trustee, supervising implementation of a very complex remedy package in a DG COMP's merger case. In 2020/2021, I interned in the Chief Economist Team of the DG COMP.

On 1 July 2022, I am joining E.CA Economics as a senior economist.

Publications

• 'Killer acquisitions' en innovatie (in Dutch) with M. Newham and J. Seldeslachts, KVS Preadviezen 2020, Online

• US and EU secure vaccine production on home soil with M. Newham, J. Seldeslachts and M. Wieting, DIW Focus No. 6, 10/2020, Online

• Influence of renewable energy sources on transmission networks in Central Europe with Lukáš Rečka and Karel Janda. Energy Policy, Energy Policy 108 (2017): 524-537.