DOCSLIB.ORG

Workers at Google Parent Alphabet Form Trade Union

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Workers at Google Parent Alphabet Form Trade Union Economy & Business Wednesday, January 6, 2021 09 Unemployment in Workers at Google parent Germany stable at end of crisis year Alphabet form trade union thanks to furlough This marks the culmination of years of rising activism at the internet giant and across Silicon Valley DPA 2008/09 financial crash, NUREMBERG when Germany set up the scheme, before reviving it THE number of people later for the coronavirus out of work in Germany crisis. rose slightly in December “The effects of the col- to reach 2.707 million, lapse of the labour market the Federal Employment early in the year are still Agency said on Tuesday, felt. The repercussions of capping a crisis year in the coronavirus pandemic which state aid propped up and measures to contain a huge chunk of the labour it remain very clearly vis- market. The December figure was around 8,000 more than the previous month, and 480,000 more than the same period in 2019, the agency added. In numbers The unemployment rate in December remained un- Germany’s unemployment changed on the previous figure in December was month at 5.9 per cent. around 8,000 more than “The number of unem- the previous month, and ployed people has increased 480,000 more than the in December - but not as same period in 2019, the strongly as we usually see agency added. The in this month,” said agency unemployment rate in chairman Detlef Scheele. December remained He pointed to a recent unchanged on the previous increase in the number of month at 5.9 per cent. applications for short-time work, the German govern- ment’s furlough scheme to ible,” Scheele said, reflect- avoid mass lay-offs during ing on the whole of 2020. the coronavirus pandemic, “The stabilizing effect which has intensified in the of short-time work has country in recent months however secured employ- and forced a nationwide ment and prevented a high- lockdown. er rate of unemployment,” On Monday, Google employees announced a union that includes hundreds of workers. (Dreamstime/TNS) However, demand for he added. the furlough programme The unemployment TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE account posted on Twitter. studies at UCLA. has “stabilized at a low lev- rate for the whole of last “If your main motive is It will probably be difficult el,” Scheele said. year was given as 5.9 per profit, you may not put ethical In a nutshell for employees in a company as At its height in April, cent, up by 0.9 percentage GOOGLE employees an- concerns as high as the profit ● large as Google to reach a criti- the scheme was cover- points compared to 2019. nounced the creation of a un- motive. We want to serve as a The Alphabet Workers Union represents more than 200 cal mass of workers and hold ing the bulk of 6 million German unemployment ion Monday that includes hun- counterbalance to that,” said employees in the United States elections for a traditional union workers’ salaries, some 18 tends to rise in the last dreds of workers, marking the Isaac Clerencia, a site reliabil- ● The union alliance wants to work for fair pay and working straight away, he said. Workers per cent of the number of month of the year. culmination of years of rising ity engineer in Google’s Moun- conditions at Walmart made a similar ef- people in Germany subject The December 2020 activism at the internet giant tain View, California, head- fort through a minority union a to social insurance contri- figures do not show the ef- and across Silicon Valley at quarters. ● The members also demand that Alphabet make needed few years back that appears to butions. The numbers fell fects of the lockdown cur- large, where high salaries and The group’s structure as structural changes. have lost momentum, he said. steadily in the months that rently in place to stem the ample perks have long kept a so-called minority union, “These minority unions followed. spread of the coronavirus, unionization at bay. representing a relatively small ● The union was organized with support Communications only pan out if they’re member According to the lat- as the data was only col- The new group of at least number of Google employees, Workers of America, which represents workers from telcoms driven,” he said. “If people in est data available from the lected up to December 10. 227 engineers and other em- means that the union can- companies including AT&T and Verizon. the workplace see the organi- employment agency, from Non-essential shops, ployees, called the Alphabet not negotiate a contract, as is zation as valuable to them as a October, there were 1.99 schools, restaurants, bars, Workers Union after Google’s typical for unionized workers. Google has long been confronted with internal protests due representative, that’s the thing million short-time workers and leisure and cultural fa- parent company Alphabet Notably, it allows for the com- to allegations of sexism, racism and abuse of power by that will drive the union for- in Germany. cilities were forced to close Inc., has been quietly in the pany’s part-time or contractor executives. ward.” That was still higher under the lockdown, which works for about a year, people employees — who make up In Google’s case, company than at the peak of the began on December 16. involved or familiar with its a vast portion of the Google employees and those familiar organization said. It has come workforce — to join alongside woman Beth Allen said. other tech companies too, with with the unionization effort together with support from the full employees, unlike in a tra- In recent years, Google some of the loudest voices re- say the group’s numbers grew Communications Workers of ditional union. workers have protested — in verberating from Google. Until last month after Timnit Gebru, America, a labor group repre- Raine Serrano, a Google some cases successfully — how now, very few have voted to a prominent artificial intelli- senting about 700,000 work- privacy software engineer in the company has handled al- formally join a union. gence researcher and ethicist, ers that launched a campaign Seattle, said including subcon- leged incidents of sexual har- “We’ve always worked said Google fired her after she earlier this year aimed specifi- tracted workers, sometimes assment, what employees de- hard to create a supportive and challenged the company on its cally at unionizing video game called “a shadow workforce,” scribe as disparate treatment rewarding workplace for our diversity hiring practices. The and tech companies in the U.S. was a priority. These work- of contract workers, and some workforce. Of course, our em- incident was a high-profile and Canada. ers — who fill a range of roles, business decisions including ployees have protected labor public blowout, with some em- The effort is unique not from serving meals in the caf- contracts with the military or rights that we support,” Google ployees coming to Gebru’s de- only because it is first-of-its- eteria and cleaning offices, to law-enforcement agencies. spokeswoman Kara Silverstein fense and asking the company kind among big tech compa- writing code, handling sales “Yet problems persist,” the said in a statement. “But as for more transparency on the nies but also for its focus on and managing teams — are union said in its introductory we’ve always done, we’ll con- circumstances around what what employees describe as the employed through secondary posts on Twitter, citing alleged tinue engaging directly with all happened. civic and ethical responsibili- companies, with little direct discrimination, harassment, our employees.” Clerencia, the Google engi- ties of their employees — and oversight of their pay and work and retaliations. “A few at the Minority unions began in neer, said he became actively the say that company workers conditions. “They need some- top are getting enormously the industrial era as first step to involved with the union af- should have in that. “We de- one to fight for them,” Serrano rich while others see nothing mobilize and channel workers’ ter Gebru’s termination. He serve meaningful control over said. of that wealth.” discontent with a broader goal said the union aims to ensure The number of people out of work in Germany rose slightly in the projects we work on & the The new union held officer A swell of walkouts and pe- of gaining more power in the Google behaves in an ethical December to reach 2.707 million direction of this company,” a elections and established by- titions related to race, inclusiv- workplace, said Toby Higbie, a way, both with its own workers new Alphabet Workers Union laws last month, CWA spokes- ity and other issues have swept professor of history and labor and “society at large.” CHALLENGES HIGHLIGHTED Poland’s cbank confirms foreign currency purchases MENA region to witness modest recovery in 2021: WB DPA tum,” Glapinski explained. AGENCIES the effects of Covid-19, they WARsaw A weaker zloty makes Polish WASHINGTON added. Growth in other coun- exports cheaper for customers tries in the region is expected POLAND’S central bank abroad. THE World Bank on Tuesday to reach 3.2 per cent in 2021 (NBP) Governor Adam Glap- Poland has gradually re- predicted a moderate eco- due to the easing of travel re- inski said on Tuesday that the duced its main interest rate nomic recovery for the Mid- strictions and a slow recovery bank has been buying foreign during the coronavirus pan- dle East and North Africa of domestic demand. currencies on the market since demic from 1.5 per cent to just (MENA) region in 2021, while However, it is expected mid-December in an attempt 0.1 per cent.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Statement of the Alphabet Workers Union on “The Misinformation And
    Statement of the Alphabet Workers Union On “the Misinformation and Disinformation Plaguing Online Platforms” Before the House Energy and Commerce Committee March 25, 2021 March 25, 2021 Workers across Alphabet have previously organized against the company's continued refusal to take meaningful action to stop the proliferation of hate, harassment, incitement of violence, or harmful misinformation from YouTube and other Alphabet-operated platforms, without good faith engagement from leadership. Alphabet is responsible for directly contributing to harmful misinformation campaigns that fuel fascist, white nationalist and hateful movements that perpetrate violence in the United States and around the world. While much attention has been paid to YouTube and other online platforms’ role in radicalizing white supremacists, this hearing is also an opportunity to illuminate how these technologies contribute to dangerous disinformation movements including QAnon, “Patriot” militias, and anti-vaccine advocacy. (1), (2). Alphabet has demonstrated a continued policy of reactive, selective and insufficient enforcement of its guidelines against disinformation and hate. As a union that fights for, and welcomes the contributions of, every worker in Alphabet, we find it abhorrent that systems to which we have dedicated our work continue to profit from the hate and disinformation that harms so many of these same workers. (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8). Online misinformation can have real and dire consequences offline, ranging from targeted violence to vaccine hesitancy. Misinformation on Alphabet products facilitates the proliferation of hate-filled conspiracy theories, like QAnon, which has repeatedly lead to incidents of targeted violence and been deemed a domestic terror threat by the FBI. Beyond physical violence, the spread of conspiracy theories and misinformation online contributes to diffuse harms that affect those across the US and abroad, such as public health violations, lower vaccination rates, and decreased democratic participation.
    [Show full text]
  • Spy Culture and the Making of the Modern Intelligence Agency: from Richard Hannay to James Bond to Drone Warfare By
    Spy Culture and the Making of the Modern Intelligence Agency: From Richard Hannay to James Bond to Drone Warfare by Matthew A. Bellamy A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (English Language and Literature) in the University of Michigan 2018 Dissertation Committee: Associate Professor Susan Najita, Chair Professor Daniel Hack Professor Mika Lavaque-Manty Associate Professor Andrea Zemgulys Matthew A. Bellamy [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6914-8116 © Matthew A. Bellamy 2018 DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to all my students, from those in Jacksonville, Florida to those in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is also dedicated to the friends and mentors who have been with me over the seven years of my graduate career. Especially to Charity and Charisse. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication ii List of Figures v Abstract vi Chapter 1 Introduction: Espionage as the Loss of Agency 1 Methodology; or, Why Study Spy Fiction? 3 A Brief Overview of the Entwined Histories of Espionage as a Practice and Espionage as a Cultural Product 20 Chapter Outline: Chapters 2 and 3 31 Chapter Outline: Chapters 4, 5 and 6 40 Chapter 2 The Spy Agency as a Discursive Formation, Part 1: Conspiracy, Bureaucracy and the Espionage Mindset 52 The SPECTRE of the Many-Headed HYDRA: Conspiracy and the Public’s Experience of Spy Agencies 64 Writing in the Machine: Bureaucracy and Espionage 86 Chapter 3: The Spy Agency as a Discursive Formation, Part 2: Cruelty and Technophilia
    [Show full text]
  • Report Resumes
    REPORT RESUMES ED 020 413 VT 005 256 VOCATIONAL EDUCATION FOR RURAL AMERICA. YEARBOOK, BY- SWANSON, GORDON I. NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSN., WASHINGTON. D.C. PUB DATE 59 EDRS PRICE HF-S1.50HC NOT AVAILABLE FROM EDRS. 355P. DESCRIPTORS- RURAL AREAS, *VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, *RURAL EDUCATION; EDUCATIONAL HISTORY, EDUCATIONAL FINANCE, PROGRAM ADMINISTRATIONIAGRICULTURAL EDUCATION,BUSINESS EDUCATION, DISTRIBUTIVE EDUCATION, HOMEMAKING EDUCATION, TRADE AND INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION, INDUSTRIAL ARTS, OCCUPATIONAL GUIDANCE, EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS! *REFERENCE A YEARBOOK ADVISORY COMMITTEE, APPOINTED BY NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION'S DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EDUCATION AND AMERICAN. VOCATIONAL ASSOCIATION MEMBERS, APPROVED THE OUTLINE, ASSISTED IN SELECTING AUTHORS, AND REVIEWED MANUSCRIPTS FOR THIS'YEARBOOK ON VOCATIONAL EDUCATION FOR RURAL AREAS. THE DISCUSSION IS IN TERMS OF THE UNIFYING THEME THAT DESCRIBES THE PROBLEMS OF RURAL EDUCATION-THE MALDISTRIBUTION OF HUMAN, ECONOMIC, AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES. PART I, WHICH TREATS THE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IS OFFERED IN AMERICAN SOCIETY, COVERS ITS HISTORY, AFFECTING FORCES, PROBLEMS OF ACCOMMODATION, INSTRUCTIONAL LEVELS, FINANCE, ADMINISTRATION, AND ITS FUTURE. PART II PRESENTS THE CONTRIBUTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES IN 1) AGRICULTURAL, BUSINESS, DISTRIBUTIVE, HOMEMAKING, TRADES AND INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION,(2) INDUSTRIAL ARTS, AND (3) VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE. THE FINAL CHAPTER EXAMINES THE CRITICAL ISSUES IN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION. OFFICIAL RECORDS AND LISTS OF OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EDUCATION ARE LISTED. THIS DOCUMENT IS AVAILABLE FOR $4.00 FROM DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EDUCATION, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W.t.WASHINGTON, D.C. 20006. (JM) PROCESS WITH MICROFICHE AND PUBLISHER'S PRICES. MICRO- FICHE REPRODUCTION ONLY. PROCESS WITHMICROFICHE PUBLISHER'S AND PRICES. MICRO- FICHE REPRODUCTIONONLY. Vocational Education for Rural America I lid Edited by GORDON I.
    [Show full text]
  • 2021 AZELA Education Conference Material
    ARIZONA EMPLOYMENT LAWYERS ASSOCIATION OUR 16th Annual PROGRAM AFTERNOON SESSIONS 12:00P - 1:00P Convention MORNING SESSIONS Lunch and Presentation of Thomas Rogers Award [MC Michelle Matheson] 9:00A - 9:05A February 26, 2021 Welcome from MC Michelle Matheson 1:00P - 2:00P 9:00am - to- 4:15pm 9:05A - 9:10A Breakout Sessions: Frank Fanning Scholarships [Nina Targovnik] A. Changes to Federal Employment Law [Stan 9:10A - 9:15A Lubin & Denise Blommel] Online via Zoom Treasurer's Report [Christopher Houk] B. The Role of Insurance in Employment Zoom Link: Litigation [Alden Thomas & Bobbie Fox] Zoom Link: 9:15A - 9:30A https://tinyurll.com/AZELA2021 NELA Presentation 2:00P - 2:15P 9:30A - 9:45A Afternoon Break Year in Review - Summary of Significant Cases Call In: Handled by AzELA Members 2:15P - 3:15P (253) 215-8782 The Reptile Theory: What is it and Why 9:45A - 10:45A Meeting IID: 930 0359 5737 •Review of Case Law: What Constitutes Should You Care? [David Nowakowski] "Severe or Pervasive?" [Christopher Houk] Passcode: 790063 •What Conduct Rises to the Level of an 3:15P - 4:15P Actionable Adverse Employment Action? EEOC Case Review Focused on LGBTQ and [Clara Acosta & Jacqueline Mendez Soto] COVID-19 Cases and Issues, Including Other 10:45A - 11:45A Laws Implicated by COVID-19 [Mary Jo Common Discovery Issues and Approaches [Roger O'Neill & Denise Blommel] MEARIZONA EMPLOYMENT McKee & Gina Carrillo] / \1 MllS ASSOCIATION 1 11:45A - 12:00P Morning Break Fin. ^ MATHESON & MATHESON, P.L.C. 15300 N. 90TH Street, Suite 550 Scottsdale, AZ 85260 Phone: 866-521-0720 Fax: 480-339-4540 Email: [email protected] Michelle Ray Matheson Ms.
    [Show full text]
  • Mergers in the Digital Economy
    2020/01 DP Axel Gautier and Joe Lamesch Mergers in the digital economy CORE Voie du Roman Pays 34, L1.03.01 B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve Tel (32 10) 47 43 04 Email: [email protected] https://uclouvain.be/en/research-institutes/ lidam/core/discussion-papers.html Mergers in the Digital Economy∗ Axel Gautier y& Joe Lamesch z January 13, 2020 Abstract Over the period 2015-2017, the five giant technologically leading firms, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft (GAFAM) acquired 175 companies, from small start-ups to billion dollar deals. By investigating this intense M&A, this paper ambitions a better understanding of the Big Five's strategies. To do so, we identify 6 different user groups gravitating around these multi-sided companies along with each company's most important market segments. We then track their mergers and acquisitions and match them with the segments. This exercise shows that these five firms use M&A activity mostly to strengthen their core market segments but rarely to expand their activities into new ones. Furthermore, most of the acquired products are shut down post acquisition, which suggests that GAFAM mainly acquire firm’s assets (functionality, technology, talent or IP) to integrate them in their ecosystem rather than the products and users themselves. For these tech giants, therefore, acquisition appears to be a substitute for in-house R&D. Finally, from our check for possible "killer acquisitions", it appears that just a single one in our sample could potentially be qualified as such. Keywords: Mergers, GAFAM, platform, digital markets, competition policy, killer acquisition JEL Codes: D43, K21, L40, L86, G34 ∗The authors would like to thank M.
    [Show full text]
  • Innovations in Collective Action in the Labor Movement: Organizing Workers Beyond the NLRA and the Business Union
    WORKING PAPER SERIES Innovations in Collective Action in the Labor Movement: Organizing Workers Beyond the NLRA and the Business Union Gabriel Nahmias PhD Candidate, MIT Department of Political Science [email protected] MIT Work of the Future Working Paper 13-2021 February 27, 2021 400 Main Street, E19-733, Cambridge, MA 02139 Innovations in Collective Action in the Labor Movement Organizing Workers Beyond the NLRA and the Business Union Gabriel Nahmias MIT Work of the Future Initiative February 27, 2021 American trade unionism is slowly being limited in influence by changes which destroy the basis on which it is erected. It is probable that changes in the law have adversely affected unionism. [but] over and above these influences, the relative decline in the power of Ameri- can trade unionism is due to occupational changes and to technological revolutions. George E Barnett, American Economic Association President, 1932 I. There and Back Again In 1932, American Economic Association President George Barnett had every reason to believe that structural forces were suffocating the labor movement. Labor was in retreat (Barnett 1933). The American Federation of Labor had seen its membership drop from 5 million in 1919 to just 3 million in 1933 (Zieger, Minchin, and Gall 1986). Radical unions, like the International Workers of the World, had been successfully repressed during the first Red Scare (Dubofsky 2000). The Knights of Labor, who once represented 1 in 5 American workers, were a long distant memory (Zieger, Minchin, and Gall 1986). Indeed, by 1933, only 6.9% of workers were in a union (Mayer 2004).
    [Show full text]
  • Market Opportunities and Key Foreign Trade Restrictions
    United States International Trade Commission Global Digital Trade 1: Market Opportunities and Key Foreign Trade Restrictions August 2017 Publication Number: 4716 Investigation Number: 332-561 United States International Trade Commission Commissioners Rhonda K. Schmidtlein, Chairman David S. Johanson, Vice Chairman Irving A. Williamson Meredith M. Broadbent Catherine DeFilippo Director, Office of Operations Jonathan Coleman Director, Office of Industries Address all communications to Secretary to the Commission United States International Trade Commission Washington, DC 20436 United States International Trade Commission Global Digital Trade 1: Market Opportunities and Key Foreign Trade Restrictions August 2017 Publication Number: 4716 Investigation Number: 332-561 United States International Trade Commission This report was prepared principally by: Project Leader David Coffin [email protected] Deputy Project Leader Jeremy Streatfeild [email protected] Office of Industries Jared Angle, Renato Barreda, Laura Bloodgood, Sharifa Crawford, Sharon Ford, Eric Forden, John Giamalva, Fernando Gracia, Jeffrey Horowitz, Mahnaz Khan, Dan Kim, Erick Oh, Sarah Oliver, Chris Robinson, Mitchell Semanik, George Serletis, Isaac Wohl Office of Economics Nabil Abbyad, Tamara Gurevich, Peter Herman, Grace Kenneally, Ricky Ubee, Heather Wickramarachi Content Reviewers Jennifer Powell and David Riker Editorial Reviewers Judy Edelhoff and Peg Hausman Office of Analysis and Research Services Maureen Letostak Document Preparation and Support Jaime
    [Show full text]
  • Cesifo Working Paper No. 8056
    8056 2020 January 2020 Mergers in the Digital Economy Axel Gautier, Joe Lamesch Impressum: CESifo Working Papers ISSN 2364-1428 (electronic version) Publisher and distributor: Munich Society for the Promotion of Economic Research - CESifo GmbH The international platform of Ludwigs-Maximilians University’s Center for Economic Studies and the ifo Institute Poschingerstr. 5, 81679 Munich, Germany Telephone +49 (0)89 2180-2740, Telefax +49 (0)89 2180-17845, email [email protected] Editor: Clemens Fuest www.cesifo-group.org/wp An electronic version of the paper may be downloaded · from the SSRN website: www.SSRN.com · from the RePEc website: www.RePEc.org · from the CESifo website: www.CESifo-group.org/wp CESifo Working Paper No. 8056 Mergers in the Digital Economy Abstract Over the period 2015-2017, the five giant technologically leading firms, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft (GAFAM) acquired 175 companies, from small start-ups to billion dollar deals. By investigating this intense M&A, this paper ambitions a better understanding of the Big Five’s strategies. To do so, we identify 6 different user groups gravitating around these multi-sided companies along with each company’s most important market segments. We then track their mergers and acquisitions and match them with the segments. This exercise shows that these five firms use M&A activity mostly to strengthen their core market segments but rarely to expand their activities into new ones. Furthermore, most of the acquired products are shut down post acquisition, which suggests that GAFAM mainly acquire firm’s assets (functionality, technology, talent or IP) to integrate them in their ecosystem rather than the products and users themselves.
    [Show full text]
  • Organizing Big Tech by Sarah Jaffe Published by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, New York Office, April 2021
    Organizing Big Tech By Sarah Jaffe Published by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, New York Office, April 2021 Executive Director: Andreas Günther Editor: Aaron Eisenberg and Maria Savel Address: 275 Madison Avenue, Suite 2114, New York, NY 10016 Email: [email protected] Phone: +1 (917) 409-1040 With support from the German Foreign Office. The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation is an internationally operating, progressive non-profit institution for civic education. In coop- eration with many organizations around the globe, it works on democratic and social participation, empowerment of disadvan- taged groups, alternatives for economic and social development, and peaceful conflict resolution. The New York Office serves two major tasks: to work around issues concerning the United Nations and to engage in dialogue with North American progressives in universities, unions, social movements, and politics. www.rosalux.nyc 2 Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung New York Office Organizing Big Tech By Sarah Jaffe A supporter of the RWDSU unionization effort takes a photo of the RWDSU union rep standing with other supporters outside the Amazon fulfillment ware- house at the center of a unionization drive on March 29, 2021 in Bessemer, Alabama. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images) Introduction The “tech” sector occupies a central place in American capitalism in 2021, and for good reason. As Logic magazine editor Ben Tarnoff notes, “Tech is an oasis of profitability in an era of stagnation. For this reason, it also serves a valuable ideological function.”1 But what do companies like Google, Amazon, and Tesla have in common, really? One began as a search engine; another, an online bookstore; the third an electric car maker.
    [Show full text]
  • Mergers in the Digital Economy
    3136 REPRINT Axel Gautier, Lamesch Joé Mergers in the Digital Economy Information Economics and Policy CORE Voie du Roman Pays 34, L1.03.01 B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve Tel (32 10) 47 43 04 Email:[email protected] https://uclouvain.be/en/research-institutes/ lidam/core/reprints.html Mergers in the Digital Economy∗ Axel Gautier y& Joe Lamesch z June 2, 2020 Abstract Over the period 2015-2017, the five giant technologically leading firms, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft (GAFAM) acquired 175 companies, from small startups to billion dollar deals. In this paper, we provide detailed information and statistics on the merger activity of the GAFAM and on the characteristics of the firms they acquire. One of the most intriguing features of these acquisitions is that, in the majority of cases, the product of the target is discontinued under its original brand name post acquisition and this is especially true for the youngest firms. There are three reasons to discontinue a product post acquisition: the product is not as successful as expected, the acquisition was not motivated by the product itself but by the target's assets or R&D effort, or by the elimination of a potential competitive threat. While our data does not enable us to screen between these explanations, the present analysis shows that most of the startups are killed in their infancy. This important phenomenon calls for tighter intervention by competition authorities in merger cases involving big techs. Keywords: Mergers, GAFAM, platform, digital markets, competition policy, killer acquisition JEL Codes: D43, K21, L40, L86, G34 ∗The authors would like to thank P.
    [Show full text]
  • February 2021 Volume 12, Issue 7
    Proceedings A monthly newsletter from McGraw-Hill Education February 2021 Volume 12, Issue 7 Contents Dear Professor, Hot Topics 2 Video Suggestions 8 Winter has arrived! Welcome to McGraw-Hill Education’s February 2021 issue of Proceedings, a newsletter designed specifically with you, the Ethical Dilemma 14 Business Law educator, in mind. Volume 12, Issue 7 of Proceedings Teaching Tips 18 incorporates “hot topics” in business law, video suggestions, an ethical dilemma, teaching tips, and a “chapter key” cross-referencing the February Chapter 24 25 2021 newsletter topics with the various McGraw-Hill Education business law textbooks. You will find a wide range of topics/issues in this publication, including: 1. The formation of a union at technology giant Google; 2. The United Kingdom’s economic separation from the European Union; 3. Recent attempts by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to further diversify its employment ranks; 4. Videos related to a) Janet Yellen’s nomination to serve as United States Secretary of the Treasury, and the actual or apparent conflicts of interest she may face if her nomination is confirmed; and b) a recent ruling by a U.K. judge that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the U.S.; 5. An “ethical dilemma” related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing; and 6. “Teaching tips” related to the “ethical dilemma” of the newsletter. Stay warm and safe, everyone! Jeffrey D. Penley, J.D. Senior Professor and Student Advocate Catawba Valley Community College Hickory, North Carolina
    [Show full text]
  • Digging Into Companies and Economic Data
    DRUG WARS CAUGHT REFORMING FOI Documenting the violence Off-duty police officers Open records laws The in Juarez driving reckless speeds at a crossroads P. 1 9 P. 1 6 P. 2 1 Journal SPRING 2012 Make It Your Business Digging into companies and economic data p. 7 IRE AWARDwinners ENTER TODAY! BARLETT & STEELE AWARDS for INVESTIGATIVE BUSINESS Deadline: Aug. 1, 2012 JOURNALISM GOLD AWARD: $5,000 SILVER AWARD: $2,000 BRONZE AWARD: $1,000 APPLY AT BUSINESSJOURNALISM.ORG FREE TRAINING in Investigative Business Journalism June 13, BOSTON: Follow the Money – Tracking Companies’ Influence on Politics, with New York Times reporter Ron Nixon. Before IRE. June 15, BOSTON: Investigating Public Pensions, with Barlett & Steele Gold Award winner Craig Harris of The Arizona Republic. During IRE. Oct. 6, MISSOULA, Mont.: Be a Better Business Watchdog – CAR for Business Journalists, with IRE Training Director Jaimi Dowdell. Register at BusinessJournalism.org. Donald W.W. ReynoldsReynolds Andrew Leckey, President National CenterCenterforfor [email protected] Business JournalismJournalism 602-496-9186 TWITTER: @BIZJOURNALISM • FACEBOOK: BIZJOURNALISM Tell the readers Entries must have been published online or in print in the year ending something they don’t know.” June 30, 2012. — Don Barlett and Jim Steele,two-time Pulitzer winners The Journal SPRING 2012 4 ENOUGH ALREADY By Mark Horvit 5 IRE NEWS Make It Your 7 IRE AWARDS 16 ABOVE THE LAW Off-duty police caught driving from 90 to 130 mph By Sally Kestin and John Maines Sun Sentinel Business 19 IRE INTERNATIONAL Digging into companies Covering the violence in Juárez: Challenges and tools By Sandra Rodríguez and economic data El Diario de Juárez 21 FOI FILES Journalists should seek 22-31 FOI reforms By Charles N.
    [Show full text]