type here...

Regulatory Capture

When regulation protects narrow interests – usually the interests of the incumbent industry – at the expense of the public interest. Capture occurs in various ways: from straightforward bribes and threats, to more implicit quid pro quos such as the lucrative future employment (revolving door), to softer forms of cognitive/cultural capture. “... as a rule, regulation is acquired by the industry and is designed and operated primarily for its benefit.” George Stigler - The Theory of Economic Regulation (1971)

Regulatory Capture

“It’s Difficult to Produce Good Policy in Thin Political Markets”

Asher Schechter
Harvard Business School’s Karthik Ramanna, author of Political Standards, outlines the potential harms of thin political markets and offers ways to mitigate capture. “It’s difficult...
Read more
Regulatory Capture

“There Is Regulatory Capture, But It Is By No Means Complete”

Asher Schechter
Kenneth J. Arrow, one of the most influential economists of the 20th century, reflects on the benefits of a single payer health care system,...
Read more
Regulatory Capture

From Mancur Olson to Bernie Sanders

Guy Rolnik
Professor George Stigler, the Nobel Laureate (1982) who in some ways invented the idea of “regulatory capture,” and Professor Mancur Olson, who developed some...
Read more
Regulatory Capture

"Capture is Everywhere – It Happens at the Highest Levels of Our Democracy"

Asher Schechter
Armed with research on drug patents and a spate of internal emails from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, hedge fund manager Kyle...
Read more
Regulatory Capture

Stigler Fellow of the Month: Beyond the Traditional Capture Theory

ProMarket writers
Harvard Business School's Rafael Di Tella is "Stigler Fellow of the Month". He talks about how any theory of regulation should consider the roles...
Read more
1...282930Page 30 of 30

Latest news

Antitrust and Competition

Creation over Time in Copyright and Patent

Randy Picker
On May 18, the United States Supreme Court decided two intellectual property cases with two seemingly different results. A closer look, however, reveals a complimentary concern with the monopolistic power of first movers and how the legal system should enable innovation from second movers over time, writes Randy Picker.
Read more
Event Notes

ESG Standards’ Good, Bad and Ugly

ProMarket writers
The Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State hosted a virtual event discussing the standards, metrics and disclosures of investments focused on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals. The following is a transcript of the event.
Read more
Commentary

Reregulate.

Lee Hepner, William J. McGee
Lee Hepner and William J. McGee respond to Clifford Winston’s ProMarket piece asserting that further deregulation of the airline industry would resolve problems in the industry. Instead, the authors claim a return to regulation would produce better results for travelers.
Read more
Antitrust and Competition

A World With Far Fewer Mergers

Brooke Fox, Walter Frick
Brooke Fox and Walter Frick analyze research and ideas presented at the Stigler Center Antitrust and Competition Conference that question the value of mergers.
Read more
Commentary

The Banking Risks of Central Bank Digital Currencies

Vibhu Vikramaditya
The implementation of central bank digital currencies as the primary medium of exchange would exacerbate the flaws of our current fiat system which encourage banks to overextend credit and create liabilities that they cannot redeem. This will worsen the already recurring cycles of financial crises, writes Vibhu Vikramaditya.
Read more
Antitrust and Competition

The Whig History of the Merger Guidelines

Eric A. Posner
A pervasive "Whig" view of United States antitrust history among scholars and practitioners celebrates the Merger Guidelines' implementation of increasingly sophisticated economic methods since their...
Read more
Antitrust and Competition

Algorithmic Collusion in the Housing Market

Gabriele Bortolotti
While the development of artificial intelligence has led to efficient business strategies, such as dynamic pricing, this new technology is vulnerable to collusion and consumer harm when companies share the same software through a central platform. Gabriele Bortolotti highlights the importance of antitrust enforcement in this domain for the second article in our series, using as a case study the RealPage class action lawsuit in the Seattle housing market.
Read more
View All

ProMarket is dedicated to discussing how competition tends to be subverted by special interests. The posts represent the opinions of their writers, not necessarily those of the University of Chicago, the Booth School of Business, or its faculty. For more information, please visit ProMarket Policy.

About Us

Categories

What we are readingAntitrust and CompetitionNewsRegulatory CaptureMediaCommentary