The Equitable Economy

Eric Posner examines how businesses exploit cultural expectations to frame certain activities as non-work, creating a form of monopsony power that allows them to extract labor without compensation in areas ranging from college athletics to digital content creation. He argues that properly classifying these "invisible" forms of work as compensable labor would benefit society, challenging anti-commodification concerns and highlighting the law's struggle to define work in these blurred contexts.

Roslyn Layton writes that proxy advisors, which provide voting services for shareholder meetings, can influence how publicly traded firms conduct their business. Two proxy firms–Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS)–have 97 percent of the market and have allowed some minority shareholders to exercise outsized influence.

Steven C. Salop recommends that the next presidential administration continue to focus competition policy on protecting against adverse labor market outcomes. He suggests several policies the administration might pursue to achieve these benefits.

Dylan Gyauch-Lewis reviews the Supreme Court’s recent spate of rulings redefining administrative law and how they threaten the National Labor Relations Board’s authority.

Sharon Block writes that after Loper Bright, there remain many questions about how the courts will treat the discretionary rulemaking authority of the National Labor Relations Board to protect workers’ right to choose to join unions and act collectively. While precedent suggests the NLRB could retain most of its power to issue and enforce rules, the recent history of a Supreme Court that has shown little favor toward workers or government intervention suggests a narrower reading of the NLRB’s authority may be coming.

Madhavi Singh argues that antitrust alone cannot reign in Big Tech monopolies. Antitrust efforts need to be supplemented by changes to corporate governance that incorporate the interests of all stakeholders and not just those of profit-maximizing shareholders.

Thomas Malthouse explores the skewed financial models that lead American railroads to underinvest in maintenance and profitable expansion, producing delays, derailments, and environmental catastrophes such as those that occurred in East Palestine, Ohio, in 2023.

In new research, Hoa Briscoe-Tran finds that some investors pulled funds from Florida-based firms in response to the state’s Stop Woke Act, suggesting that they value diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

Jake Goidell argues that the ongoing NCAA lawsuit settlements will not create a lasting solution unless athletes form a players association that is involved in determining industry-wide decisions.

Colleen Honigsberg and Robert J. Jackson, Jr. write that Exxon Mobil’s decision to sue its own investors over a shareholder proposal threatens to enervate an admittedly imperfect but ultimately valuable mechanism that provides shareholder feedback to corporate managers and helps both parties negotiate better governance outcomes.