Simcha Barkai

An extensive body of research documents a decline in the dynamism of the U.S. economy since the early 1980s. The main findings of this literature are a decline in gross labor flows, a decline in firm entry and exit rates, a decline in the contribution of young firms to aggregate employment, and, since the early 2000s a decline in high-growth firms. Motivated by these facts, a significant body of research has sought to explain the growing weakness of young firms.

By: Simcha Barkai (ProMarket) In collaboration with Tania Babina, Jessica Jeffers, Ezra Karger, and Ekaterina Volkova, we have conducted new research involving the meticulous collection of a comprehensive record of Department of Justice (DOJ) antitrust lawsuits spanning from 1971 to 2018. Utilizing this dataset, we have analyzed the tangible impacts of these lawsuits on economic activity.

Simcha Barkai describes the results of new research examining the impact of antitrust enforcement on U.S. economic activity with co-authors Tania Babina, Jessica Jeffers, Ezra Karger, and Ekaterina Volkova. Enforcement, they find, increases economic activity. In new work, joint with Tania Babina, Jessica Jeffers, Ezra Karger, and Ekaterina Volkova, we hand-collect a complete history of Department of Justice (DOJ) antitrust lawsuits from 1971 to 2018.