The Stigler Center is inviting submissions of short academic pieces (up to 2000 words) focused on how economic concentration can impact the marketplace of ideas. The authors of the best submissions will have their work published on ProMarket and will be invited to discuss their ideas at the Stigler Center’s 2025 Antitrust and Competition Conference, which will take place in Chicago on April 10-11, 2025.
In 2017, the Stigler Center embarked on an ambitious project to reinvigorate the discussion of concentration and monopoly in the United States, starting with the conference Is There a Concentration Problem in America?. Five years later, our 2022 Conference Antitrust: What’s Next? discussed whether the field of competition policy reached an inflection point—both in academia and in policy—that may lead to once-in-a-generation changes. In 2023, our conference addressed the future of antitrust enforcement beyond the Consumer Welfare Standard—and there was broad academic agreement that it is time to move antitrust policy and enforcement forward. The 2024 conference Antitrust, Regulation and the Diffusion of Innovation brought together experts from academia, government, and industry to discuss the impact of antitrust enforcement on productivity growth and innovation.
Next year’s conference will explore the broader impact that an increasingly concentrated economy can have on the marketplace of ideas. This includes analysis of certain key markets–such as media and digital markets–but also broader discussions on the impacts of economic concentration on academic independence and what can be done to address potential negative impacts in our intellectual marketplace.
We welcome all papers addressing the interaction between economic concentration and the marketplace of ideas. Some particular areas of interest include:
- Historical Patterns of Media Concentration
- How market concentration can (or not) impact media coverage
- Market Concentration and Academic Independence
- What are the first amendment limits to antitrust enforcement in markets that shape public opinion (e.g. media and digital markets)
- Whether concentration impacts (or not) the potential sharing of disinformation in contemporary media ecosystems
- Addictive and polarizing algorithms and their relationship to economic concentration
- The Influence of AI Systems on Public Discourse
- The impact of digital platforms in our media ecosystems, and what regulatory approaches (if any) can mitigate any eventual negative impacts
- Case Studies in the Political Economy of Digital Platforms Beyond the US
We encourage submissions that offer fresh perspectives on these broad and timely issues, aimed at promoting a more inclusive and democratic information ecosystem.
In particular: We are looking for short contributions (up to 2000 words) that clearly articulate whether market concentration influences (or not) the marketplace of ideas. The authors of the best submissions will be invited to discuss their proposal at our 2025 Conference, which will take place in Chicago on April 10-11, 2025. We will also post the best submissions on ProMarket.
The Stigler Center would cover travel costs according to UChicago reimbursement policies.
We welcome submissions from scholars from all disciplines—based in the U.S. and abroad. Authors are also encouraged to submit pieces based on longer articles published elsewhere.
Deadline
Please submit your contributions by January 5th, 2025 (11:59pm Chicago time) here.
