Charles Taragin, Benjamin Wallace, Eddie WatkinsWe study how corporate debt influences the competitive outcomes of horizontal and conglomerate mergers. In contrast to standard models where debt does not affect pricing, our framework shows that mergers can spread fixed debt obligations across a broader product portfolio, creating an "insurance effect" against adverse demand shocks. This effect interacts with the traditional recapture effect from reduced competition.

Ron Lach/Pexels, The Conversation, CC BY-SAWhen the newly appointed chief executive of tracking app Life360 recently described the company as part of the “anxiety economy”, it sounded like a throwaway phrase. But it was also surprisingly candid.

Aspiring autocrats are increasingly pressuring businesses to co-operate with their quest for wealth and power, such as by demanding they direct corporate funds towards their personal enrichment or fire personnel who are critical of them.

In a significant new study published by the Institute for New Economic Thinking, Canadian economist Mohsen Javdani reveals that gender shapes views on power, equality, and inclusion in ways politics alone can’t explain.
Men and women might check the same box on election day, but they see the economy through different lenses. Just ask professional economists.