Sky Blog
In a decision issued on July 23, 2024 (the ATS Decision), U.S. District Judge Kelley Brisbon Hodge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied Plaintiff ATS Tree Services LLC’s motion for a stay of effective date and preliminary injunction against …
When rival businesses share confidential, competitively sensitive information, the result is usually a restraint on competition. Indeed, it is often unnecessary for the rivals to “agree” specifically on how they will compete because the information they share ensures that no …
Our economy is dominated by five aging tech giants – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft. Each of these firms was founded more than 20 years ago: Apple and Microsoft in the 1970s, Google and Amazon in the 1990s, and …
In the face of competitive pressure, is there a trade-off between a company’s financial performance and its commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activities? Is ESG a source of competitive advantage, or do managers simply spend other people’s money …
In July 2021, President Biden issued an executive order aimed at promoting competition in the American economy. This development has renewed researchers’ interest in the impact of competition on firm behavior and economic activity. While prior research focused on how …
In recent years, major institutional investors in the U.S. have combined their efforts on environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) matters. Large institutional investors now vote in lockstep on a variety of corporate issues, jointly lead governance initiatives, and often adopt …
Thank you, Ken [Bentsen]. As is customary, I’d like to note that my views are my own, and I’m not speaking on behalf of my fellow Commissioners or the SEC staff.
1933 was an important year in SEC history.
No,
How common ownership affects competition is a source of acute disagreement among scholars and policymakers, with some who believe common ownership depresses competition seeking antitrust law reforms that would significantly constrain how investment funds operate. Neglected in this vigorous debate, …
As empirical evidence of labor-market concentration mounts, academics and policymakers advance proposals to challenge or reverse its effects on workers’ wages and labor-market options. Prominent among these is more aggressive review of the labor-market effects of mergers by the Department …
Common ownership (competing firms with overlapping ownership) has become increasingly prevalent over the last several decades. Recent studies of the phenomenon have produced two important findings. First, common ownership is associated with less intense competition. Studies posit that managers act …
Over the past three decades, there has been tremendous change in the ownership of publicly-traded firms in the U.S. Consolidation in the asset management industry and the rise in mutual fund investing have led a small number of institutional investors …
Innovation and its main output, technology, are changing the way we work, socialize, vote, and live. New technologies have improved our lives and made firms more productive, raising living standards across the world. Thanks to progress in information technology, the …
As mutual funds have become popular with individual investors, the institutions that manage these funds have grown dramatically. Along with the benefit of offering individual investors inexpensive portfolio diversification and engagement in corporate governance, there is mounting concern that the …
In recent years, large asset managers and other institutional investors have come to own increasingly large shares of firms that are competitors. For instance, BlackRock owns shares of both Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. Such common ownership is prevalent …
Thank you so much, Scott [Hemphill], for that incredibly kind introduction.* It’s a real honor to be here with you—and to be invited to testify before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). I share your commitment to making sure …
Thank you so much, Sarah [Miller], for that kind introduction. It’s a privilege to be here with you and the Open Markets Institute and Village Capital today. I’ve long admired the Institute’s leadership in putting the concentrated power choking our …
The UK Government published its highly-anticipated technical guidance on merger review and anti-competitive activity on 13 September 2018 which will apply in the case of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit (the ‘Guidance’). Although brief, it provides market players with some form of …
On May 29, 2018, the Department of Justice announced the largest-ever antitrust divestiture in the U.S. in connection with Bayer’s takeover of Monsanto. In addition to being newsworthy in light of its sheer size (at approximately $9 billion), the remedy …
BlackRock, the vast asset manager, has been feted for demanding that the boards of its portfolio firms pursue a social purpose, which likely entails spreading corporate profits beyond shareholders to include labor and victims of environmental harm.[1] But despite …
Antitrust merger enforcement historically has focused on horizontal mergers — consolidation of two firms that compete directly in the same space. This is especially true in the U.S., where antitrust authorities have challenged few vertical mergers — those of a …