This paper argues that incumbent firms may acquire innovative targets solely to discontinue
the target's innovation projects and preempt future competition. We call such acquisitions …

There is broad concern that merger policy toward Big Tech has been too lenient. Big Tech
typically operates in markets characterized by innovation-driven “competition for the market.” …

Innovation is central to long-run economic growth. This chapter summarizes the state of the
literature on the economics of innovation, highlighting open policy questions. We first …

We develop a model to capture the novelty of innovation and explore what it means for the
nature of market competition and quality of innovations. An innovator decides not only …

This paper investigates the effects of “Big Tech” platform acquisitions on venture capital (VC)
funding for start-ups. We analyze 32,367 venture capital deals between 2010 and 2020, and …

A start-up and an incumbent negotiate over an acquisition price under asymmetric
information about the start-up's ability to succeed in the market. The acquisition may result in …

Some argue that large platforms, such as Alphabet/Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and
Microsoft (or GAFAM), are unusual in their number, pace and concentration of technology …

Large fixed costs and (direct and indirect) network externalities generate barriers to entry
and high markups for winners in the digital industry. The potential for high prices, low …

How do acquisitions of young, innovative, venture capital-funded firms (startups) affect firms'
incentives to enter a market? I create a product-level dataset of enterprise software, and use …

I develop and calibrate a game of startup innovation, incumbent acquisition and merger
review, with a focus on industries with uncertainty about the nature of the entrant …