Academic Capture
The Epstein Report: How a Convicted Criminal Could Use MIT to Whitewash His Reputation
The only reason why a pedophile's donations did not violate any MIT policy is that MIT does not have any policy to prevent embarrassing...
Corporations and the Rise of the Chicago Law and Economics Movement
From its birth in 1946 onward, corporations made possible and crucially supported the rise of the Chicago law and economics movement. Aaron Director,...
The Rise of the Opioids: How Purdue Invented New Markets for OxyContin
Purdue's strategy was to market its opioids directly to patients via brochures, videos, advertisements, and the internet. It also provided information to doctors and...
Western Multinationals Can Improve Workers' Safety, If They Want to: The Case of Bangladesh
In 2013, one of the largest factories in Bangladesh collapsed, killing 1,134 workers. Many multinationals committed to improving safety standards. A new study shows...
Uber’s “Academic Research” Program: How to Use Famous Economists to Spread Corporate Narratives
Uber's employees co-authored academic papers with brand name scholars that were then used to back the company's PR and lobbying strategy. Published in respected...
The Uber Bubble: Why Is a Company That Lost $20 Billion Claimed to Be Successful?
In the first of three interrelated articles, transportation consultant Hubert Horan discusses Uber's "uncompetitive economics." There is no real innovation in the company's business...
Political Economy, Blind Spots, and a Challenge to Academics
Anat Admati calls on economists and academics to engage with governance and political economy issues, scrutinize models before applying them to the real world,...
The Harvard Admission Lawsuit Decision Does Not Answer the Main Question: What Are Top Universities For?
A judge ruled this month that Harvard does not discriminate against Asian-American applicants, according to its own criteria. But what kind of students do...
Economics’ Lack of Interest in Gender Proves: the “Dismal Science” Really Is Dismal
Economists are still in the dark about the role of gender. For economics to be credible, we have to recognize that our knowledge is...
Uber and the Sherlock Holmes Principle: How Control of Data Can Lead to Biased Academic Research
How can we ensure that academic journals do not become an unintended instrument in the PR efforts of powerful firms? Luigi Zingales offers some...
