NERA Economic Consulting Case Interview: Format, Economics Focus, and Prep (2026)

NERA Economic Consulting is not a management consulting firm in the traditional sense — and if you prepare for NERA interviews like you'd prepare for McKinsey, you'll fail. NERA is an economic consulting firm: it applies rigorous economic analysis to litigation, regulatory proceedings, and corporate strategy. The interview tests economics, not business frameworks.

The candidate who wins at NERA is the one who can explain what a regression analysis shows, discuss why a particular market structure might be anti-competitive, and calculate damages using economic theory — not the one who can draw the best MECE issue tree.

NERA vs. Management Consulting: The Core Difference

Understanding this distinction determines how you prep.

The economic consulting industry — NERA, Analysis Group, CRA, Cornerstone Research — serves a specialized market that most case interview prep resources ignore. If this is your target, standard case prep is necessary but not sufficient.

The NERA Interview Process

NERA's process varies by office but typically follows this structure:

Per Wall Street Oasis candidate reports and Glassdoor, NERA's process is less standardized than MBB. The specific case format depends on which practice group you're interviewing for (antitrust vs. securities vs. energy, etc.).

What NERA Cases Actually Look Like

A NERA case is not "a client is losing profitability — how do you fix it?" It's more likely to involve:

Antitrust case example: "Two competing widget manufacturers want to merge. The DOJ is reviewing whether this merger violates antitrust law. What economic analysis would you conduct to assess whether this merger creates anti-competitive harm?"

Strong answer framework:

1. Market definition: Define the relevant product and geographic market using the hypothetical monopolist test (SSNIP test)
2. Market concentration: Calculate HHI before and after the merger; flag if it exceeds DOJ thresholds (1800 HHI post-merger with delta > 100)
3. Competitive effects: Assess unilateral effects (would the merged entity raise prices?) and coordinated effects (does the merger facilitate collusion?)
4. Entry analysis: Could new entrants discipline a post-merger price increase?
5. Efficiencies: Do cost savings outweigh anti-competitive harm?

This is economic analysis, not a strategy framework. The case interview frameworks complete guide is less relevant here than core microeconomics.

Securities damages example: "Shareholders in a class action allege that a company misled investors about its financial condition, causing the stock price to decline when the truth emerged. How would you calculate damages?"

Strong answer: Apply the event study methodology — isolate the stock price movement attributable to the disclosure (vs. market-wide movement), apply a regression to separate the firm-specific effect, and multiply by shares outstanding. Discuss the "but-for" price concept: what would the price have been absent the fraud?

Key Economic Concepts for NERA Interviews

You should be able to discuss these fluently:

You don't need to be a PhD to discuss these — you need to be able to explain what they measure and why they're relevant in a particular context.

Behavioral Interview at NERA

NERA's behavioral questions are closer to academia than to consulting. Common themes:

The "why economic consulting vs. PhD or management consulting" question is important. Strong answers for economic consulting typically involve: interest in applied economics and real-world impact; preference for varied, project-based work over academic research; interest in the litigation and regulatory context that management consulting doesn't touch.

For broader behavioral prep, see our behavioral interview consulting guide — the STAR framework applies even if the content is more economics-focused.

Related Economic Consulting Firms

If you're targeting NERA, also look at:

• Analysis Group — similar positioning; slightly more PhD-dominant; strong in healthcare economics
• Charles River Associates (CRA) — strong in antitrust and intellectual property damages, very similar to NERA
• Cornerstone Research — securities litigation specialist, more focused than NERA
• Compass Lexecon — antitrust specialist, founded by key antitrust economists

All use similar interview formats emphasizing economic reasoning. See our Charles River Associates case interview guide for a comparison.

Test Your Knowledge

Test yourself

1 / 3

Question 1 of 3

What is the HHI (Herfindahl-Hirschman Index) used for in economic consulting?

• AMeasuring a company's profitability margin
• BAssessing market concentration for antitrust review
• CCalculating securities fraud damages
• DEvaluating regulatory compliance

Sources and Further Reading (checked April 1, 2026)

• Hacking the Case Interview — NERA guide: hackingthecaseinterview.com/pages/nera-case-interview
• Wall Street Oasis NERA interview reports: wallstreetoasis.com/company/nera-economic-consulting/interview
• NERA open roles: nera.com/open-roles.html
• Management Consulted NERA guide: managementconsulted.com/nera-economic-consulting-interview
• Glassdoor NERA interview experience: glassdoor.com/Interview/NERA-Interview-Questions-E38370.htm
• CaseBasix NERA guide: casebasix.com/pages/nera-case-interview