Lobbying

Defense Contracts Are Going to the Best Connected, Not Necessarily the Best

In new research, Şenay Ağca and Deniz Igan use the shock of the September 11 attacks and declaration of war on Afghanistan...

Fighting New Antitrust Rules Is a Bad Move for Big Tech

With new limits on platforms taking effect in the EU and U.S. politicians showing greater willingness to defy tech titans, companies would...

Healthcare Companies Spent More on Lobbying Than Any Other Industry Last Year

Threatened by regulated price caps from congress, the pharmaceutical industry spent nearly $390 million on lobbying in 2021 according to new data...

Barriers to Entry as Another Source of Top Income Inequality

A new book, The Power of Creative Destruction, explores how lobbying contributes to the increase in the top 1 percent’s share of...

Lobbying for Globalization: How the Winners Dominate the Politics of Trade Agreements

Lobbying on free trade agreements has been dominated by a few very large firms, which experience large gains as a result of...

Recovering from Kleptocracy: A 10-Step Program

In his book Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency, Larry Diamond highlights 10 steps to close existing loopholes...

“Doubt is Their Product”: The Difference Between Research and Academic Lobbying

Tommaso Valletti, the former Chief Competition Economist of the European Commission, reflects on the intersection of academic economics and policymaking and offers...

A New Stigler Center Case Study Explores the Link Between Italy’s Morandi Bridge Disaster and Crony Capitalism

Two years ago, the Morandi bridge collapse claimed 43 lives. Based on financial statements, Italian government documents, and interviews with independent experts...

“Democracy Is Influenced by Lobbyists, That’s Why the People Also Need Someone to Lobby for Them”

“Individuals usually don’t have enough incentive to take action, even though it is clear they will be collectively better off by taking action.” In...

MBA Students Against Corporate America: “Stop Lobbying the White House on the Defense Production Act”

Since the virus outbreak, the US Chamber of Commerce has lobbied the federal government to limit the use of a piece of legislation that...

LATEST NEWS

The Convoluted Regulatory Regime for M&A Assessments in the US

What happens when the goals of antitrust enforcers clash with regulators focused on issues of national security and public interest? A forthcoming book by Ioannis Kokkoris, Public Interest Considerations in US Merger Control, explores these tensions in the United States regulatory framework.

Was Microsoft’s “Polluted Java” a presumptively legal improved product design?

Section 2 defendants often interpret the holdings of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in U.S. v...

Income Inequality May Worsen the Spread of Infectious Disease

Income inequality may exacerbate the spread of infectious diseases. In a new paper, Jay Bhattacharya, Joydeep Bhattacharya, and Min Kyong Kim examine the relationship between income inequality and the incidence and prevalence of tuberculosis across countries.

The Classic Theory of Albert O. Hirschman Argues Against the US Chamber’s Case for Non-Competes

Drawing on the theory of Albert O. Hirschman’s  Exit, Voice, and Loyalty, Brian Callaci argues non-compete clauses stifle the important channels of communication between employees and businesses necessary for improving firm competitiveness. The evidence also shows that, despite claims from businesses, non-competes harm rather than reward employees for their loyalty. 

AI For the Antitrust Regulator

Cary Coglianese lays out the potential, and the considerations, for antitrust regulators to use machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms.