Research

Most users on social media have encountered toxic content: rude, disrespectful, or hostile posts or comments. A study using a browser extension estimates the effect of toxic content on user engagement and welfare.

In new research, Sarah Hinck and Jasper van den Boom argue that the European Union’s Digital Markets Act’s (DMA) whistleblower tool does not yet bring enough to the table to effectively incentivize potential informants to report on Big Tech violations.

In new research, Filippo Lancieri, Laura Edelson, and Stefan Bechtold explore how the political economy of artificial intelligence regulation is shaped by the strategic behavior of governments, technology companies, and other agents.

In a new report, Eric Rescorla and Alissa Cooper analyze how Google’s browser, Chrome, could operate successfully as an independent entity if the court presiding over Google Search orders its divestiture.

In a new NBER working paper, John M. Barrios, Filippo Lancieri, Joshua Levy, Shashank Singh, Tommaso Valletti, and Luigi Zingales explore the impact of...

Why is nonprofit ownership gaining traction in the U.S., with companies like OpenAI and Patagonia mirroring long-standing models in Europe, such as Novo Nordisk and IKEA? In new research, Ofer Eldar and Mark Ørberg unpack the economic rationales behind nonprofit business ownership, challenge the idea that it’s all about purpose, and highlight the overlooked risks of nonprofit control.

Despite individual investors being strongly divided on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, corporate policies are largely determined by large institutional investors that adopt predominantly moderate ESG stances. In new research, Nicola Persico and Enrichetta Ravina explore this disconnect by examining the mechanisms driving the moderate ESG positions of major financial institutions and investigating potential impacts of allowing individual investors to select their own proxy voters.

In new research, Petros Boulieris, Bruno Carballa-Smichowski, Maria Niki Fourka and Ioannis Lianos analyze industrial policy from around the world to understand how policymakers are rethinking policy goals. The authors create a set of metrics to measure how different policy orientations improve or sacrifice competition.

Populist leaders like United States President Donald Trump are zealously challenging the authority of independent technocrats and judges. This backlash follows decades of steadily increasing delegation of policymaking authority to unelected experts, bureaucratic agencies, and the judiciary. In new research, Gabriele Gratton and Jacob Edenhofer argue that such backlash is a predictable development in political environments where majorities are unstable and new political coalitions frequently favor policies at odds with those crafted by social welfare-maximizing technocrats.

Marios Constantine Iacovides discusses his and Konstantinos Stylianou’s empirical investigations into how the goals of competition policy have evolved over time. They find that a multitude of goals have always been present in judicial and regulatory decisions, but the emphasis on certain goals has vacillated in response to the concerns of the time. Contemporary concerns about the health of democracy suggest a revival of ordoliberalism and protection of the competitive process.