Economics and Politics of Mega-Firms.

• Position: Conferences

An NBER conference on the Economics and Politics of Mega-Firms took place on February 19 online. Research Associates Chad Syverson of the University of Chicago and John Van Reenen of the London School of Economics organized the meeting, which was supported by the Smith Richardson Foundation. These researchers' papers were presented and discussed:

* Marianne Bertrand, University of Chicago and NBER; Matilde Bombardini and Francesco Trebbi, University of California, Berkeley and NBER; Raymond Fisman, Boston University and NBER; and Eyub Yegen, University of Toronto, "Investing in Influence: Investors, Portfolio Firms, and Political Giving"

* Bruno Pellegrino, University of Maryland, "Product Differentiation and Oligopoly: A Network Approach"

* Kilian Huber, University of Chicago, "Are Bigger Banks Better? Firm-Level Evidence from Germany"

* Ezra Oberfield and Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, Princeton University and NBER, and Pierre-Daniel Sarte and Nicholas Trachter, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, "Plants in Space" (NBER Working Paper 27303)

* Antonio Falato, Federal Reserve Board; Hyunseob Kim, Cornell University; and Till M. von Wachter, University of...