Michal Halperin and Stephen Gibson: How many regulations does it take to change a lightbulb?

Monday, February 13, 4:00-5:30pm
Bell Hall (B-500)

How many regulations does it take to change a lightbulb?

Regulation can impose significant costs on businesses and customers. While governments often introduce new regulations, it can be much more difficult for them to deregulate. Michal Halperin, M-RCBG Senior Fellow and former General Director of the Israeli Competition Authority together with Stephen Gibson M-RCBG Senior Fellow and Chair of the UK Regulatory Policy Committee will discuss the barriers to deregulation using examples from baby formula to online ride-hailing services and will try to give some insight on how to succeed in deregulation process. 

This study group / discussion is open to all. Registration is not necessary.

M-RCBG welcomes individuals with disabilities to participate in its programs. To request accommodations or ask questions about access provided, please email mrcbg@hks.harvard.edu

Michal Halperin is a legal expert in the fields of competition, antitrust laws and regulation. Between 2016 and 2021 she was the Director-General of the Israeli Competition Authority.  She led the Competition Authority in merger review, criminal and administrative enforcement, advocacy for the promotion of competition, and economic research. In her term as head of the Competition Authority she instituted a reform of the Israeli Competition Law; created the Advocacy arm of the Competition Authority and built multi-disciplinary working teams. Under her guidance, the Authority transformed to become a key player in almost every economic reform in Israel. Some of the markets in which she was able to promote competition are the cellular, natural gas, dairy, and financial payment markets. Michal Halperin also led the Competition Authority’s criminal prosecution and administrative enforcement in landmark cases against cartels and dominant entities such as the elevator companies, the natural gas monopoly (Chevron) and Facebook.  Prior to her term as Director-General of the Competition Authority, she was head of the Competition and Antitrust Group at Meitar Law. Michal Halperin also previously held the position of Chief Legal Advisor at the Israel Competition Authority (then Israel Antitrust Authority) where she headed a team of 25 legal professionals. From 2000 -2001, she was a Special Legal Advisor at Mintz Levin in Boston.  She began her professional career as an intern in the Supreme Court of Israel, and was then a lawyer in Erdinast, Ben Nathan, Toledano & Co. Advocates, becoming a partner there after five years. Michal Halperin is a graduate of the Law Faculty of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. As a Senior Fellow at M-RCBG, her research will focus on finding the optimal competitive model for public health services. She will base her research on the Israeli model as a case study.  Her faculty sponsor is Amitabh Chandra, Ethel Zimmerman Wiener Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Email: michalhalperin@hks.harvard.edu

Stephen Gibson is an expert in UK regulation and regulatory economics with over 25 years’ experience of leading major economic and regulation projects across the aviation, rail, water, telecoms, postal, broadcasting and ports sectors.  Stephen is Chair of the UK government’s Regulatory Policy Committee which independently scrutinises the evidence and analysis underpinning government regulatory measures and verifies the costs to business of government regulation. In 2011 he set up SLG Economics, an economics consultancy providing expert competition and regulatory economics advice to government, regulators and regulated companies. From 2011 until 2017 he ran the Regulators’ Forum to update UK economic regulators on developments in regulatory economics and regulatory policy. Stephen has been a member of the Civil Aviation Authority’s expert panel since 2019, providing advice on the regulation of Heathrow and NATS. He has regularly appeared on TV and Radio, being interviewed about regulatory developments particularly in the postal sector. Stephen has been Chief Economist and Director of Economic Policy at Postcomm, Interim Chief Economist at Ofwat, Principal Economist at Ofcom, Head of Economics at Network Rail, and a special advisor on regulation to the Office of Rail Regulation and the CAA. He was a lecturer at City University, London on their MSc in Competition and Regulation and has lectured for over 15 years at Birkbeck University on their MSc in Applied Economics. He has run training courses in regulatory and competition economics for Ofwat, ORR, the Northern Ireland Utility Regulator and the Department for Transport. Stephen has an MA in Economics and Management Studies from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and has postgraduate qualifications in Computer Science (Cambridge University), Accounting and Finance (ACCA), EU Competition Law (Kings College London), Health Economics (Middlesex University) and Corporate Finance (London Business School). He was the external supervisor for a PhD in rail regulation at Cambridge University and has published articles on regulation, rail charging and postal economics in leading academic books and journals. As an M-RCBG Senior Fellow, Stephen will be researching the regulatory framework used by Government departments and sectoral regulators to introduce new regulations in the UK. His faculty sponsor is Jason Furman, Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Email: stephengibson@hks.harvard.edu