Showing Latest Publications

Lipton on Shareholder Primacy

TOTM 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 . . .

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 blog (quoted in today’s print edition), Lipton wondered aloud whether the move to shareholder-centric governance will “simply overwhelm American business corporations.”

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Financial Regulation & Corporate Governance

Cert Granted in Linkline

TOTM The Supreme Court has granted cert in Pacific Bell Telephone Co., dba AT&T California v. linkLine Communications in order to address the question of whether . . .

The Supreme Court has granted cert in Pacific Bell Telephone Co., dba AT&T California v. linkLine Communications in order to address the question of whether a Section 2 “price squeeze” claim is viable under the Sherman Act if the defendant has no duty to deal.

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Antitrust & Consumer Protection

Chairman Kovacic Announces the “FTC at 100” Self-Assessement Exercise

TOTM Chairman Kovacic has posted a paper announcing a major self-assessment initiative at the FTC: The FTC at 100: Into our Second Century.  Here is the . . .

Chairman Kovacic has posted a paper announcing a major self-assessment initiative at the FTC: The FTC at 100: Into our Second Century.  Here is the opening paragraph…

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Antitrust & Consumer Protection

“It’s nonsensical to object”

TOTM So says Jagdish Bhagwati about the recent objections by 100 or so University of Chicago faculty members to the establishment of the Milton Friedman Institute.  . . .

So says Jagdish Bhagwati about the recent objections by 100 or so University of Chicago faculty members to the establishment of the Milton Friedman Institute.  (HT: Chicago Tribune).  Here’s the whole quote as reported from the Chicago Tribune…

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Economics & Ideology Again

TOTM Crooked Timber has a very interesting post up on the minimum wage debate (HT: Brian Leiter).  I want to comment on the sub-theme of the . . .

Crooked Timber has a very interesting post up on the minimum wage debate (HT: Brian Leiter).  I want to comment on the sub-theme of the post (and the theme picked up in the title of Leiter’s post), which was that economics ideologically driven by pro-market bias which results in the publication of pro-market findings over those that would favor regulation or demonstrate some sort of market failure.

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Kobayashi & Wright on Antitrust Limits, Federalism and Patent Holdup

TOTM I’ve posted to SSRN my new article (co-authored by my colleague Bruce Kobayashi), Federalism, Substantive Preemption, and Limits on Antitrust: An Application to Patent Holdup. . . .

I’ve posted to SSRN my new article (co-authored by my colleague Bruce Kobayashi), Federalism, Substantive Preemption, and Limits on Antitrust: An Application to Patent Holdup. We presented an earlier version of our analysis at the George Mason/ Microsoft Conference on the Law and Economics of Innovation and benefited significantly from comments from the discussants and participants. We take an approach grounded in the economics of federalism and recent Supreme Court antitrust jurisprudence in arguing for substantive limits on antitrust enforcement of patent holdup in favor of reliance on patent law as well as state common law. Along the way we discuss recent cases and enforcement actions involving patent holdup, including the D.C. Circuit’s decision in Rambus, Broadcom, and N-Data. If you’re a reader interested in patent holdup and related issues, please give the paper a read. Comments welcome (here or email me).

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Antitrust & Consumer Protection

Antitrust Analysis of Tying Arrangements and Exclusive Dealing

Scholarship Abstract This chapter surveys the legal and economic literatures on the antitrust analysis of tying arrangements and exclusive dealing contracts. We review the analytical framework . . .

Abstract

This chapter surveys the legal and economic literatures on the antitrust analysis of tying arrangements and exclusive dealing contracts. We review the analytical framework applied under U.S. antitrust law to tying, bundling and exclusive dealing arrangements as well as the existing theoretical and empirical literatures.

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Antitrust & Consumer Protection

Pioneers in Law and Economics: Benjamin Klein

TOTM I’ve mentioned previously that my colleague Lloyd Cohen and I are editing a volume for Edward Elgar Publishing on Pioneers in Law and Economics.   Look . . .

I’ve mentioned previously that my colleague Lloyd Cohen and I are editing a volume for Edward Elgar Publishing on Pioneers in Law and Economics.   Look for details in this space soon on a full list of contributing authors and subjects as well as where to buy the book!  One of the perks of co-editing a volume like this was that I was able to assign myself the chapter on my dissertation advisor and co-author Benjamin Klein.

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Antitrust & Consumer Protection

RPM and the NIE

TOTM I’ve just spent a couple of great days in spectacular Boulder, Colorado at a conference on the New Institutional Economics (NIE). (Not sure why the . . .

I’ve just spent a couple of great days in spectacular Boulder, Colorado at a conference on the New Institutional Economics (NIE). (Not sure why the “the” is required, but it always seems to be used.) The conference, organized by Colorado Law’s Phil Weiser and hosted by the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship, was designed to provide law professors with an overview of what the NIE is about and how it can inform legal scholarship. Geoff also attended and would probably agree that the conference was great fun.

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Antitrust & Consumer Protection