News

The European Commission draft merger guidelines reorient merger analysis to focus on “capabilities”: how firms compete in current markets and pivot to future ones. However, the guidelines combine “capabilities” with what strategic management scholars call “resources.” This erroneous amalgamation oversimplifies merger assessment and risks inaccurate analysis, writes Selcukhan Unekbas.

The European Commission’s draft merger Guidelines adopt the advice of the Draghi report on European Union competitiveness to tailor competition law to promote goals that have traditionally fallen under industrial, trade, and national security policy. Conceptual ambiguity and the convergence of these policy areas risk undermining consumer welfare, entrenching incumbents, and opening regulation to business capture, write Annika Stöhr and Oliver Budzinski.

The caution of Judge Amit Mehta’s remedy in the Google Search case is unlikely to open internet search to competition. Steve Salop recommends several amendments to the remedy that can improve competition without undercutting the revenue that has benefited Google’s partners to date.

Digital marketplaces make comparing credit lending options easier for potential borrowers. However, Jeromee "JJ" Johnson cautions that online platforms may be turning comparison itself into a signal to lenders—at a cost to applicants.

New research by Hosein Maleki, Mahsa Kaviani, Simi Kedia, and Shay Pourvosoughi shows that women-owned firms are less likely to get a second chance after filing for bankruptcy and that the gap between male- and female-owned firm filings widens when courts are overloaded.

Using a proprietary dataset, Dave Jochnowitz, Steven Singer, and Mona Birjandi analyze trends in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s whistleblower program. They find that sanctions have concentrated in a select few violation categories, raising the possibility that the program is structurally guiding enforcers to focus on certain violation types to the neglect of others.

Matt Lucky reviews Jimmy Wales’ new book The Seven Rules of Trust: A Blueprint for Building Things that Last, now out at Penguin Press.

In new research, Anik Bhaduri discusses how current antitrust enforcement is insufficient to address the economic influence of Big Tech companies. He argues that their market power stems from their privileged position on financial markets and their unique organizational structures, and antitrust reforms should therefore be complemented with reforms to corporate and securities law to effectively address the concentration of private power.

The antitrust agencies’ revival of the Robinson-Patman Act risks undercutting legitimate business practices that benefit consumers. However, there is a role the Act can play in protecting small businesses, writes Darren Tucker.

In new research, Luca Macedoni and Ariel Weinberger argue that large firms are more likely to lobby in favor of strict industry regulations when they can reduce competition by imposing high fixed costs on smaller, less-profitable firms.