News

Richard Wolfram explores the regulatory concerns of Netflix and Paramount’s competing merger proposals for Warner Bros. Discovery. Based on current antitrust doctrine and guidelines, Paramount would appear to face comparatively fewer barriers to the transaction, but the analysis is hardly black-and-white.

In new research, Sureyya Burcu Avci, Cindy Schipani, and H. Nejat Seyhun assess and justify the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s failed attempts to regulate potential fraud and deception in the private equity market by examining the performance and potential conflicts-of-interest in de-SPAC transactions.

In new research, Anat R. Admati, Nate Atkinson, and Paul Pfleiderer argue that when misconduct is profitable, enforcement mechanisms aimed at deterring corporate misconduct often fail to achieve their goals and they may even backfire. The reason is that corporations can adjust internal governance mechanisms, particularly managerial compensation, to reduce or nullify the deterrent effects of corporate or managerial sanctions. These responses may lead to more misconduct and exacerbate social harm.

Smartphones have become a primary gateway for consuming political news, but we know little about what individuals actually see on their phones. In new research, Guy Aridor, Tevel Dekel, Rafael Jiménez Durán, Ro’ee Levy, and Lena Song open the smartphone black box using novel content data and document individuals’ exposure to election-related content during the 2024 presidential election, as well as the drivers of this exposure.

Matt Lucky reviews Dani Rodrik’s new book, “Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World: A New Economics for the Middle Class, the Global Poor, and Our Climate”

In new research, Mario Amore, Morten Bennedsen, Birthe Larsen, and Zeyu Zhao examine the symbiotic relationship between working environments and employee well-being, finding that when workers are safe and satisfied, companies profit.

Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater recently gave a speech repudiating the laissez-faire antitrust enforcement policy of past administrations. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has ordered antitrust agencies to investigate how price-fixing has raised food prices. If the administration is serious about bringing food prices down for Americans, it should begin by addressing the costs farmers face. For that reason, Slater should investigate and possibly challenge the mergers between large seed sellers that occurred during Trump’s first term in office, writes Peter Carstensen.

In new research, Pinelopi Goldberg and Michele Ruta analyze how today’s structural, policy, and geopolitical trade conditions are no longer conducive to the trade-led growth miracles many developing countries experienced in the past.

In March, the Stigler Center will welcome nine world-class journalists from the United Kingdom, United States, South Korea, Uganda, Guyana, Belgium, and Turkey for an intensive 12-week program of professional development at Chicago Booth.

The following is an adapted excerpt from “To Protect Their Interests: The Invention and Exploitation of Corporate Bankruptcy" by Stephen J. Lubben, now out at Columbia University Press.