Dr. Will Taylor

Education

PhD and BCA in economics, Victoria University of Wellington
BCA with honours in money and finance (1^st Class), Victoria University of Wellington

Experience

Dr. Taylor is an Associate Director in NERA’s Antitrust and Competition; Energy; and Communications, Media, and Internet Practices. He provides expert analysis and advice to clients across New Zealand and Australia in matters involving antitrust, regulatory, energy, and financial economics. Dr. Taylor regularly assists clients dealing with complex regulatory issues, energy market design, merger and abuse of market power investigations, and quantum disputes in litigation and arbitration.

On energy matters, Dr. Taylor has advised clients operating in each level of the electricity supply chain. Recent electricity experience includes advising clients on liquidity policy and obligations in New Zealand, Australia, and the UK; the introduction of nodal pricing in the Australian National Electricity Market; market studies by Australian and New Zealand regulators and governments; electricity transmission pricing reform; electricity market reform proposals; and regulatory economics for network businesses. Dr. Taylor’s energy experience outside of the electricity sector includes advising on the reform of gas pipeline regulation in Australia, stranding risk for gas networks, transmission governance reform in the gas sector, and contractual disputes on the prices for gas pipeline infrastructure.

In the field of competition economics, Dr. Taylor advises clients on mergers and acquisitions, contracting issues, and allegations of anticompetitive practices. His most recent case experience has involved analysis of the antitrust implications of technological disruption in the pay TV, insurance, broadband, and news/media markets. His broader experience spans industries including health care, manufacturing, forestry, retail, agriculture, transport, electricity generation and distribution, and waste.

In the regulatory sphere, Dr. Taylor has extensive experience in the design and operation of regulatory regimes and access pricing for communications services (fixed and mobile), energy networks (gas and electricity), airports, ports, and dairy. He has particular expertise in telecommunications regulation, having been involved in regulatory proceedings for mobile termination, backhaul, and local loop unbundling.

Dr. Taylor seamlessly brings together his extensive experience on both regulatory and competition issues, enabling him to provide highly valuable analysis and expertise to businesses on market studies and inquiries by governments and regulators. These studies typically assess competition and, if it is lacking, consider regulatory interventions. Dr. Taylor’s expertise in financial economics is brought to bear in quantum disputes regarding infrastructure access, fair trading and misrepresentation claims, and commercial damages arbitrations and litigation.

Dr. Taylor is active in the New Zealand competition community. He was recognized as a Future Leader in Competition Economics by the Global Competition Review and Who's Who Legal in 2019. Dr. Taylor is also on the board of the Competition Law and Policy Institute of New Zealand, whose mission is to spread knowledge in the fields of competition law and policy.