James Bessen writing for The Innovation Frontier Project at the Progressive Policy Institute on policy implications of large-scale IT investment leading to declining competition and increasing inequality.
James Bessen, Erich Denk, and Chen Meng cited in the Wall Street Journal, about the effectiveness of salary history bans in reducing the pay gap for women and minorities.
James Bessen, Erich Denk, and Chen Meng
New research shows the positive effects of laws prohibiting employers from asking about job applicants’ prior salaries in reducing pay gaps for women and minorities.
James Bessen, Michael Impink, Lydia Reichensperger, and Robert Seamans cited in the Regulatory Review about their recent paper on the effect of the GDPR on AI startups.
James Bessen, Stephen Michael Impink, Lydia Reichensperger, and Robert Seamans
New research on the impact of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regime (“GDPR”) and data regulation on AI startups using unique survey data of commercial AI startups.
Robert Seamans in Forbes, about a new bill designed to improve competition and data portability between digital platforms.
Timothy Simcoe quoted in BU Today, on keeping tech firms from getting too big.
William E. Kovacic, Robert C. Marshall, and Michael J. Meurer
New research and policy recommendations to combat serial collusion by firms selling multiple products.
Ian Hathaway with Robert Litan. Are we seeing unproductive entrepreneurship? We don’t have a smoking gun to confirm this hypothesis, but there surely is smoke, and it comes in two forms: rising profits, especially those earned by the largest businesses in the economy, and suggestive evidence of an increase in efforts to shape the rules of the […]
James Bessen
Since 1980, US corporate valuations have risen relative to assets and operating margins have grown. The possibility of sustained economic rents has raised concerns about economic dynamism and inequality. But rising profits could come from political rents or, instead, from returns to investments in intangibles. This paper explores these factors using new data on Federal regulation and data on lobbying, campaign spending, R&D, and organizational capital.