Webtagr - Technology News Summarizer

Toxic Origins, Toxic Decisions: Bias in CEO Selection

2025-05-30

New research reveals selection bias in CEO promotion amplifies risk-taking. CEOs born near future Superfund sites (exposed to prenatal pollution) are more likely to be promoted internally, suggesting firms reward apparent success without considering inherent risk tolerance. These 'Superfund CEOs' excel internally but pursue riskier external policies after promotion, leading to greater volatility and weaker performance. The study indicates firms may mistake luck for skill, inadvertently selecting high-variance risk-takers whose traits only become detrimental when decision-making shifts to public, irreversible domains.

(papers.ssrn.com)

Startup CEO selection Risk-taking Environmental risk

Presidential Pardon Power: Does it Extend to Corporations?

2025-05-25

This article explores the largely uncharted territory of whether the US president's pardon power extends to corporations. Historical evidence suggests a broader interpretation than commonly assumed, tracing back to centuries of English common law where corporations were frequently pardoned. The president could use this power to conditionally pardon corporations, potentially even effectively abolishing federal corporate criminal liability. However, Congress can limit this power by refusing to appropriate refunds of pardoned fines and by repealing corporate criminal liability statutes. Some states might also possess similar pardon powers, opening new strategic avenues for lawyers representing corporations.

(papers.ssrn.com)

Law Presidential Power Pardon Power Corporate Law

Willy Wonka's Trade Secrets: A Legal Fantasy?

2025-05-22

This paper uses Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" as a springboard to discuss the importance of trade secrecy in the candy industry and its relationship with patent law. The article points out that the extreme secrecy surrounding the factory's processes in the novel is not fictional, but reflects a widespread reality in the real-world confectionery industry. By analyzing this, the author raises fundamental questions about the legal protection of misappropriated secrets, especially when secrecy is paramount, and the relationship between trade secrecy and patent law.

(papers.ssrn.com)

Misc trade secrets patent law

Content Moderation Shockwaves: How Adult Site Policy Reshaped Online Competition

2025-04-24

A study reveals the profound impact of content moderation policies on online competition, focusing on the adult content market. When a dominant platform removed 80% of unverified content, its traffic plummeted by 41%. However, this displaced traffic shifted to competitors, both mainstream and less-regulated fringe sites. Fringe sites saw a remarkable 55% increase in visits, significantly outpacing the 10% growth of mainstream rivals. Search engines played a crucial role, directing users seeking alternatives. The leading platform responded aggressively, using DMCA takedowns to remove competitors from search results. The study highlights how asymmetric content moderation shocks reshape market dynamics, driving users towards less-regulated spaces and altering substitution patterns.

(papers.ssrn.com)

Misc platform competition

The Steep Price of Curbing R&D Tax Deductibility

2025-04-10

New research reveals the significant negative consequences of limiting the tax deductibility of research and development (R&D) expenditures. Since 2022, US companies have been required to capitalize and amortize R&D expenses rather than deducting them immediately. The study finds that affected US firms experienced an average increase in their cash effective tax rate of 11.9 percentage points (62%). This resulted in decreased R&D investment among domestic-only, research-intensive, and constrained firms. In aggregate, these estimates translate to a $12.2 billion reduction in R&D in the first year among the most research-intensive firms. Furthermore, affected companies also reduced capital expenditures and share repurchases, suggesting that firms reduced other types of investment and shareholder payouts to meet the increased cash tax liability. The paper provides policy-relevant evidence of the substantial real-world effects of limiting innovation tax incentives.

(papers.ssrn.com)

Tech R&D tax deduction