Trelysa Long

A recent working paper found that AI and robotics directly promote technological innovation while also bolstering the impact of science and technology investments on technological innovation.

A recent paper found that rising foreign competition increased concentration among U.S. firms from 1992 to 2012 but overall concentration, which includes foreign firms competing in U.S. markets, remained unchanged.

Policymakers should focus on finding the real causes of inflation rather than scapegoating large corporations and adopting the neo-Brandeisian claim that the rise in prices is due to “greedflation.”

Despite claims by anticorporate neo-Brandeisians, corporate concentration appears positively correlated with higher productivity and wages. So, the push to break up large companies is antiworker and anti-middle class.

Larger firms are generally more productive because of scale economies, but some U.S. industries still have too high a share of small firms. Policymakers should encourage, not discourage, greater consolidation in these industries.

Policymakers should ignore neo-Brandeisian calls to regulate or break up large companies. Another study has found large firms can benefit the economy and are crucial for optimal productivity.

While ITIF applauds the Commission for its efforts to evaluate the adequacy of California’s competition laws and consider possible changes, this comment highlights concerns with both the single-firm and concentration reports, and specifically regarding their respective legal and economic findings.

Policymakers should not follow neo-Brandeisian calls to break up large companies because such actions will only hurt the economy and small firms

Monopoly power is not the main explanation for changes in workers’ earnings after a merger or acquisition, and including labor monopsony power in the updated Merger Guidelines will not only disincentivize greater consolidation but will also harm consumers. The FTC and DOJ should ignore the guideline on labor monopsony when reviewing mergers.

A report by the Economic Innovation Group (EIG) concludes that declining knowledge diffusion is the underlying cause of declining business dynamism. However, its theoretical model is based on flawed assumptions, while its mathematical model has methodological issues.

A recent paper found that the average innovative target firm received a takeover premium and cumulative abnormal stock returns that were 4.2 and 5.6 percentage points, respectively, higher than their non-innovative counterparts.

The proposed revival of the Robinson-Patman Act will not only have consequences for consumers but also for the small businesses they are trying to protect.