American Antitrust Institute, Invitational Symposium: Entrepreneurship and Antitrust: A Multidisciplinary Perspective

National Press Club, Washington DC, June 17, 2015

The American Antitrust Institute’s 2015 Invitational Symposium, Entrepreneurship And Antitrust: A Multidisciplinary Perspective, will highlight the growing complexity found at the intersection of entrepreneurial activity and competition policy. Experts from law, economics, and business will convene for a day-long symposium to offer insights on the nature and importance of entrepreneurship to the economy, the challenges that entrepreneurial activity poses for antitrust thought and enforcement, and policy solutions to address those challenges. The event will be a milestone in a larger AAI project on the interaction of entrepreneurship and antitrust made possible by a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

The AAI’s focus on entrepreneurship and antitrust is motivated by the importance of entrepreneurial activity to economic growth. Recent research documents the slowing pace of entry into the economy by new firms. There are indications that this slowdown in entrepreneurship and the increasing rate of failure that many early-stage firms experience may be linked to growing consolidation. Theoretical and practical limitations inherent to existing antitrust analysis may systemically undervalue entrepreneurial activity. Questions concerning the relationship of antitrust and entrepreneurship are therefore ripe for analysis.

The AAI Symposium will address the question of how competition policy and entrepreneurial activity should relate to one another. Speakers will examine the requisite theoretical perspective and enforcement environment for fostering the recognition and development of business opportunities that define the entrepreneurial process; and the risk-taking, initiative, and entrepreneurial drive that make up the mindset of successful entrepreneurs. Speakers will also examine aspects of entrepreneurial activity that challenge competition and economic growth. Both are critical as forces key to an economy that revolves around job creation, investment, higher living standards, consumer benefits, and the long-term vibrancy of the economy.

The morning panels will draw upon experts from the field of entrepreneurship to understand the phenomenon of entrepreneurialism, the stages of entrepreneurial activity, and the characteristics of different classes of entrepreneurs. The morning will also include experts from economics, marketing, strategic management, and other disciplines to better understand the incentives, strategies, and outcomes that relate to entrepreneurial activity and affect entrepreneurs in the modern economy. The second half of the day will draw upon experts in competition policy and antitrust to focus on how standard antitrust analysis—ranging from how markets are defined, to the evaluation of entry, to the fashioning of merger remedies—considers the process and outcomes of entrepreneurship. Importantly, this discussion will also examine the question of how increasing consolidation, strategic behavior, and other competitive developments affect, and are affected by, entrepreneurial activity.

The symposium should be of special interest to those working at the intersection of entrepreneurship and antitrust. This includes scholars, consultants, and practitioners from antitrust, economics, and entrepreneurship, as well as interested members of related fields (e.g., strategic management, marketing, etc.). The symposium will also serve to motivate the AAI’s national conference on the following day focusing on antitrust goals for the next presidential administration.

For additional information and registration please see

http://www.antitrustinstitute.org/events/antitrust-and-entrepreneurship.

 

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