Alexander Elbittar is an applied game theorist and industrial organization economist. His research focuses on competition and regulation, particularly in telecommunications and other network industries. Professor Elbittar has extensive experience analyzing mergers as well as allegations of unilateral, exclusionary, and coordinated conduct. He has also addressed issues involving auctions, digital platforms, theories of decision-making, and experimental and behavioral economics.
Professor Elbittar has been retained as an expert in multiple jurisdictions in the United States and Central and South America, and has consulted to the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Professor Elbittar is a member of the Expert Advisory Group on Digital Economy at the Comisión Federal de Competencia Económica (COFECE), Mexico’s competition regulatory agency. In this capacity, he has conducted ex post analyses of merger cases in the entertainment industry and market studies in the agro-industrial sector’s value chain. Professor Elbittar’s industry experience also includes energy, financial services, mining, retail, and transportation.
In addition to COFECE, Professor Elbittar has consulted on competition, policy, and capacity-building matters to multiple Mexican regulatory entities, including the Comisión Reguladora de Energía (CRE), the Comisión Nacional de Mejora Regulatoria (CONAMER), and the Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (IFT). He has worked with the IFT and the Consejo de la Judicatura Federal, part of Mexico’s judicial branch, to support continuing education for judges on competition and telecommunications topics.
Professor Elbittar’s research has appeared in such peer-reviewed journals as the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, and Economic Inquiry, among others. He is a member of the National System of Researchers II at the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT), which supports scientific and technological activities, policy, and education in Mexico.
For nearly two decades, Professor Elbittar has taught courses in industrial organization, game theory, and economic competition at Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) in Mexico City. He directs the Programa Interdisciplinario de Regulación y Competencia Económica (PIRCE), CIDE’s program on regulation and competition. Professor Elbittar has also taught at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de Mexico and the University of Pittsburgh.