Big Tech, Antitrust and the Financial Markets Blind Spot

For this session, Anik Bhaduri (MSc Candidate in Law and Finance, University of Oxford) will join us. Anik will present his paper,'Big Tech, Antitrust and the Financial Markets Blind Spot' ( forthcoming in the Research Handbook on Antitrust and Finance (Marco Corradi & Samuel N. Weinstein eds.), Edward Elgar):

Abstract: 

In recent years, the increasing economic power of large technology-based enterprises (‘Big Tech’) has been at the forefront of academic and policy debates across the world. These enterprises have been accused of exploiting their economic power to distort market competition, manipulate elections, and enrich themselves at the expense of their consumers as well as their workers. Antitrust authorities around the world have sought to stem the rising economic influence of Big Tech by expanding the aims of antitrust enforcement, rethinking traditional theories of harm, and recalibrating existing merger control frameworks. This chapter argues that Big Tech’s market power derives not only from their dominance in product and labour markets but also from their privileged position in financial markets, which allows them to raise capital at exceptionally low costs and to operate with considerable autonomy, largely insulated from investor pressure. This financial advantage allows them to invest heavily in R&D and even acquire their competitors, which in turn entrenches and reinforces their dominance in product markets. Against this backdrop, the chapter contends that the contemporary attempts to reform antitrust and regulate Big Tech must be supplemented with corporate law reforms and securities regulation to address the disproportionate bargaining power that Big Tech wields in capital markets.