Interview Series: Is There a Concentration Problem in America?
"The Financialization of the U.S. Economy Has Produced Mechanisms That Lead Toward Concentration"
In this installment of ProMarket’s interview series on concentration in America, Gerald Berk from the University of Oregon discusses the political implications of concentration.
Does...
“The Increase in Common Ownership Corresponds to the Concentration Increase That Several Large Mergers Would Create”
In this installment of ProMarket’s interview series on concentration in America, Martin Schmalz from the University of Michigan talks about the effects of common ownership...
“There Is Unambiguous Evidence That Concentration Is on the Rise and Widespread Over Most Industries”
In this installment of ProMarket’s interview series on concentration in America, Cornell University professor Roni Michaely shares data on rising concentration in the U.S. economy.
Does America have...
“Industries Where Market Power Can Harm Consumers the Most Are the Ones We Should Care Most About”
In this installment of ProMarket’s interview series on concentration in America, Chicago Booth professor and former chair of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers...
"I Suspect the Major Reason for the Rise in Concentration Is Technological Change, Particularly in IT"
In this installment of ProMarket’s interview series on concentration in America, Chicago Booth professor Steven Kaplan discusses the reasons for the rise in concentration. "Overall,...
"Antitrust Policy Relies More Heavily on Beliefs Rather Than a Strong Consensus About Facts"
In this installment of ProMarket’s new interview series on concentration in America, Chicago Booth professor emeritus Sam Peltzman shares some thoughts on concentration and...
"There Is a Clear Perception That the European Commission Is More Active In Antitrust Than the U.S. Agencies"
In this installment of ProMarket's interview series on concentration in America, Tommaso Valletti, the European Commission’s Chief Competition Economist, shares some thoughts on economic concentration...
"Our New Economy Enables the Winners to Capture Much More of the Welfare"
In this installment of ProMarket’s new interview series on concentration in America, Ariel Ezrachi and Maurice Stucke discuss bigness, market power, and the digital...
“No Convincing Evidence That Concentration Has Been a Major Factor in Explaining Poor U.S. Economic Performance”
In this installment of ProMarket's new interview series on concentration in America, Chicago Booth professor Dennis Carlton strikes a skeptical note concerning claims that increased...
“Growing Evidence That Some U.S. Regulators May Value the Profits of the Incumbents They Regulate Over Consumer Welfare”
In this installment of ProMarket's new interview series, we ask Fiona M. Scott Morton of Yale University about the effects of concentration in America and...
LATEST NEWS
Antitrust and Competition
Revising the Merger Guidelines To Return Antitrust to a Sound Economic and Legal Foundation
The draft Merger Guidelines largely replace the consumer welfare standard of the Chicago School with the lessening of competition principle found in the 1914 Clayton Act. This shift would enable the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice Antitrust Division to utilize the full extent of modern economics to respond to rising concentration and its harmful effects, writes John Kwoka.
Economic History
How Anthony Downs’s Analysis Explains Rational Voters’ Preferences for Populism
In new research, Cyril Hédoin and Alexandre Chirat use the rational-choice theory of economist Anthony Downs to explain how populism rationally arises to challenge established institutions of liberal democracy.
Antitrust and Competition
The Impact of Large Institutional Investors on Innovation Is Not as Positive as One Might Expect
In a new paper, Bing Guo, Dennis C. Hutschenreiter, David Pérez-Castrillo, and Anna Toldrà-Simats study how large institutional investors impact firm innovation. The authors find that large institutional investors encourage internal research and development but discourage firm acquisitions that would add patents and knowledge to their firms’ portfolios, hampering overall innovation.
Antitrust and Competition
The FTC Needs To Focus Arguments on Technological Transitions After High-Profile Losses
Joshua Gray and Cristian Santesteban argue that the Federal Trade Commission's focus in Meta-Within and Microsoft-Activision on narrow markets like VR fitness apps and consoles missed the boat on the real competition issue: the threat to future competition in nascent markets like VR platforms and cloud gaming.
Commentary
We Need Better Research on the Relationship Between Market Power and Productivity in the Hospital Industry
Antitrust debates have largely ignored questions about the relationship between market power and productivity, and scholars have provided little guidance on the issue due to data limitations. However, data is plentiful on the hospital industry for both market power and operating costs and productivity, and researchers need to take advantage, writes David Ennis.
