PPI’s Michael Mandel and top executives and investors from U.S. technology industries discussed the real-world impact of M&A activity in this innovative sector.
Mandel explained the findings of his new paper, “Innovation by Acquisition: New Dynamics of High-tech Competition.” The paper considers important questions about the government’s role in regulating acquisitions in high-tech:
- Do acquisitions of innovative tech startups diminish competition, or do rapidly changing and hypercompetitive tech markets benefit from acquisitions that facilitate innovative product integration and deployment and provide a good return to investors?
- Can anyone predict beforehand which acquisitions might prove beneficial for product innovation and economic growth, and which ones will not?
- Should regulators consider other economic benefits of proposed mergers and acquisitions beyond hard-to-predict effects on consumers in existing product markets?
Featured speakers:
Michael Mandel, Chief Economic Strategist, Progressive Policy Institute
David Lawee, Vice President of Corporate Development, Google
Brad Burnham, Managing Partner, Union Square Ventures
Stephen Savage, Corporate Senior Vice President, CA Technologies