The Archives

The collection of all scholarly commentary on law, economics, and more

Showing results for:  “digital markets act”

Vapor products, harm reduction, and taxation: More questions than answers for a young and dynamic product market

ICLE has released a white paper entitled Vapor products, harm reduction, and taxation: Principles, evidence and a research agenda, authored by ICLE Chief Economist, Eric Fruits. More than 20 countries have introduced taxation on e-cigarettes and other vapor products. In the United States, several states and local jurisdictions have enacted e-cigarette taxes. The concept of ... Vapor products, harm reduction, and taxation: More questions than answers for a young and dynamic product market

Lipton on Shareholder Primacy

It should be no surprise that the inventor of the poison pill is pro-director, but Marty Lipton’s remarks at a June 25 conference at the University of Minnesota Law School left no doubt that he truly believes in his heart of hearts that we’re better off with strong, unencumbered boards. According to the WSJ’s deals ... Lipton on Shareholder Primacy

Seven Truths About Regulating Interchange

Interchange fees on payment cards are obviously a hot topic in the United States, but also in Europe and in many other countries around the world.  The report on interchange fees released last month by the US Government Accounting Office (GAO) notes that more than 30 countries have intervened or are considering intervening in the ... Seven Truths About Regulating Interchange

A Few Thoughts on Privacy and Antitrust

In the comments to this post, Peter Swire (Ohio State) points to some recent comments (see also here and  here) he submitted to the Federal Trade Commission on how to incorporate privacy into conventional antitrust analysis.  The privacy and antitrust link appears to be something that will receive quite a bit of attention in the ... A Few Thoughts on Privacy and Antitrust

Why not more securities disclosure?

Steve Davidoff discusses materiality issues in the GS Abacus transaction, Gupta/Galleon, Apple and Jobs’ health and Sokol. He questions “quirky” American securities laws that don’t require continuous disclosure of material information, and a materiality standard which “allows lawyers and others to argue that something is not material because they didn’t think it was certain or ... Why not more securities disclosure?

CONDITIONAL PRICING PRACTICES AND THE LIMITS OF ANTITRUST

The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) June 23 Workshop on Conditional Pricing Practices featured a broad airing of views on loyalty discounts and bundled pricing, popular vertical business practices that recently have caused much ink to be spilled by the antitrust commentariat.  In addition to predictable academic analyses featuring alternative theoretical anticompetitive effects stories, the Workshop ... CONDITIONAL PRICING PRACTICES AND THE LIMITS OF ANTITRUST

The Economics of Gang Colors

Here.  The article highlights an a paper stressing the role of gang colors as a commitment device to ensure higher quality criminals.  The mechanism works, the authors contend, because gang colors are a handicap that increases the probability of detection and thus, low quality criminals are less likely to be able to “afford” wearing them.  ... The Economics of Gang Colors

New on SSRN: Kobayashi and Ribstein on private lawmaking

The paper, with Kobayashi, is Law As A Byproduct: Theories Of Private Law Production.  Here’s the abstract: Public lawmakers lack incentives to engage in a socially optimal amount of legal innovation. Private lawmaking is a potential solution to this problem. However, private lawmaking faces a dilemma: In order to be effective privately produced laws need ... New on SSRN: Kobayashi and Ribstein on private lawmaking

Why Did Sprint Pile On the DOJ’s AT&T / T-Mobile Suit?

So, the AT&T / T-Mobile transaction gets more and more interesting.  Sprint has filed a complaint challenging the transaction.  I’ve been commenting on the weakness of the DOJ complaint and in particular, its heavy reliance on market structure to make inferences about competitive effects. The heavy dose of structural presumption in the DOJ complaint — ... Why Did Sprint Pile On the DOJ’s AT&T / T-Mobile Suit?

Chancellor Strine on LLC law

We got our first LLC opinion from Chancellor Strine in his new position atop the Delaware Chancery Court.  It’s worth close attention in its own right as a case of first impression, and as an indication of the new Chancellor’s general approach to these cases. The case is Achaian, Inc. v. Leemon Family LLC. Francis ... Chancellor Strine on LLC law

Hot off the press: Fencing Fiduciary Duties

My article, Fencing Fiduciary Duties, has just appeared in a B.U. Law Review symposium.  Here’s the abstract: This comment on the work of Professor Tamar Frankel builds on her encyclopedic discussion of the various types of duties that have been classified as “fiduciary.” I argue for a more precise definition and more limited application of ... Hot off the press: Fencing Fiduciary Duties

Short-selling and market efficiency

Another day, another paper showing evidence of the negative effect on market efficiency of bans on short-selling.  Today it’s Yerkes, Regulatory Trading Restrictions, Overvaluation, and Insider Selling.  Here’s the abstract: A contentious debate is emerging over the regulatory response to the financial crisis. This paper takes advantage of a rare opportunity to empirically test sweeping ... Short-selling and market efficiency