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Regulation

Democracy

Presidential Control of Independent Agencies Has a Price

Brian Feinstein
The Supreme Court's decision in Trump v. Slaughter strips independent agencies of removal protections that made regulatory policy predictable across administrations. In new research, Brian Feinstein and Daniel Hemel find that equity markets assign real value to precisely that kind of insulation.
Antitrust and Competition

Bank Mergers Aren’t Raising Your Mortgage Rate

Celso Brunetti
In new research examining 44 million U.S. mortgages and nearly 5,000 bank mergers over three decades, Celso Brunetti, Jeffrey H. Harris, and Ioannis Spyridopoulos find that bank consolidation does not raise mortgage rates, restrict credit access, or degrade loan quality. Local mortgage markets remain intensely competitive. 
Commentary

The Proposed California Billionaire Wealth Tax Produces Inequities and Adverse Incentives

Ray Ball
California’s proposed wealth tax on billionaires will struggle to accurately value and tax the wealth of California’s richest. Rather than fund the state’s massive budgetary commitments, the bill may drive away its largest taxpayers, write Ray Ball and Andrew Sutherland.
Antitrust and Competition

When is Corporate Bribery a Good Investment?

Vishavdeep Sharma
In new research, Vishavdeep Sharma and Krishnendu Ghosh Dastidar analyze corporate corruption through the lens of market competition. Firms often bribe officials to block rivals from entering their markets, and their incentive to do so depends less on how competitive a market is than on what kind of competition it has.
Antitrust and Competition

When Mergers Break the Workplace     

Wei Cai
In new research, Wei Cai, Andrea Prat, and Jiehang Yu evaluate how mergers affect employee satisfaction. They find that acquired firms report a decline in worker satisfaction, primarily revolving around “soft” benefits, such as workplace culture, management quality, and trust.
Antitrust and Competition

How Well Do Divestiture Remedies Work for Supermarket Mergers?

Xiao Dong
In new research, Xiao Dong, Paul Koh, Devesh Raval, Dominic Smith, and Brett Wendling evaluate how well divestiture remedies work for mergers in the supermarket industry. They find that past supermarket divestitures lead to lower employment, reduced sales, and higher rates of exit from the market relative to comparable non-divested supermarkets.  
Commentary

Online Markets for Loans are Punishing Borrowers for Shopping     

Jeromee "JJ" Johnson
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.
Regulation

Is the SEC’s Whistleblower Program Distorting Enforcement?

Dave Jochnowitz
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.
Money in Politics

Why Big Business Loves Costly Regulations   

Luca Macedoni
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.
Labor

More AI-Exposed Industries and States Are Benefiting, But Results Are Heterogeneous

Christos Makridis
In new research, Christos Makridis and Andrew Johnston find that industries exposed to generative AI are seeing an increase in production, employment, and wages. However, the majority of AI-driven revenue growth is channelled back to capital as profits, rather than to workers.
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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.