In numerous markets, prices are agreed in long-term contracts that include mechanisms for price or index adjustments. EE&MC reviews the economic appropriateness, transparency and consistency of such adjustment clauses, both ex ante in the context of contract drafting and ex post in the event of disputes over additional claims or price adjustments.
The aim of these analyses is to compare the economic content of the adjustment mechanisms with actual market developments. EE&MC uses time series econometric methods, cost-price models and index decomposition analyses to determine whether price changes are objectively justified or whether they deviate from the underlying price structure. In cases where price indexations are linked to commodity prices, wages or energy components, these variables are analysed in isolation to identify excessive or erroneous adjustments.
The reviews are conducted using market economy benchmarks and empirical comparative data. This ensures that price movements based on exceptional or contractually unintended factors can be disclosed and quantified in economic terms. In addition, EE&MC models the dynamic interactions between costs, prices and quantities in order to distinguish structural price changes from temporary market fluctuations.
The result is reliable expert opinions that reflect the economic fair value of the agreed price development. EE&MC thus offers companies, authorities and courts a set of tools for objectively evaluating price adjustment mechanisms, empirically resolving conflicts of interest and placing disputes on a factually sound, economic basis.