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Igor Letina

@igorletina.bsky.social
1.4K followers 964 following 158 posts

Associate professor, Uni Bern | Vice President, Swiss Competition Commission. Competition policy/IO, innovation economics, contest design. igorletina.com

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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
This piece of news arrived just as I was rereading the paper while preparing a talk for the 𝗢𝗘𝗖𝗗-𝗘𝗖 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽: 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁-𝗨𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲-𝗨𝗽: 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀. More details on the workshop here: www.oecd.org/en/events/20...
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Very happy to be part of this OECD workshop on start-ups’ ability to scale. If this topic interests you, take a look at the website to see the full speaker lineup and consider joining us online or in person. www.oecd.org/en/events/20...
oecd.org
From start-up to scale-up: Challenges and opportunities
This workshop explores key drivers that shape start-ups’ ability to scale. It examines how technology, access to funding, talent allocation, and market structures influence growth opportunities. The g...
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Public service announcement: there is a number of submission deadlines for conferences in the next ~2 weeks. Get your papers ready.
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Al Roth @alroth.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Are there some tasks that it would be immoral to delegate to machines? #econsky marketdesigner.blogspot.com/2026/02/are-...
marketdesigner.blogspot.com
Are some applications of AI repugnant?
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
I had the pleasure of speaking with Chris for this piece on acquihires and the AI exit market. The evolving regulatory landscape raises important questions about competition, talent mobility, and how innovation gets rewarded. The article does a good job of laying out the key risks and trade-offs.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
Planning your summer conference schedule? I've updated my conference list for 2026, with deadlines, dates, locations, and links. You can also download calendar entries. Focus is on general conferences, IO, and theory. Let me know if I've missed something. Link: www.igorletina.com/conferences....
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Link to the published article (paywalled): pymnts.com/cpi-posts/ac... PDF: igorletina.com/files/2025_B...
pymnts.com
Acquihires: What Economics Tells Regulators | PYMNTS.com
Acquihires — deals driven primarily by the acquisition of talent — have often been argued to be relatively harmless features of the startup ecosystem. Yet
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
FTC Chair Ferguson recently told Bloomberg that the FTC will review AI acquihires as they would any startup acquisition. This is exactly the approach @jmbenkert.bsky.social, Shuo Liu, and I argued for in a CPI Antitrust Chronicle article last month (links below). www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u_h...
youtube.com
FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson Talks Acquihires | Bloomberg Talks
YouTube video by Bloomberg Podcasts
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JKU Department of Economics @jku-economics.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
We are happy to announce that the inaugural Bern/Linz Innovation & Knowledge (BLInK) Workshop will take place next week at the University of Bern. Many thanks to @igorletina.bsky.social and @jsndr.bsky.social for putting together a fantastic program.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
I don't think AI knows what "intuitively" means.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
The Authority imposed a penalty on the acquiring firm. Previously, these acquisitions were not looked at.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
*Killer Acquisitions* news: the French Competition Authority has for the first time sanctioned a non-notifiable killer acquisition. Source: www.clearygottlieb.com/news-and-ins...
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Florian Scheuer @florianscheuer.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics @econ.uzh.ch at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics. 🧵 1/7
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Ben Waber @bwaber.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
Next was a jam-packed panel on the competition risks of AI acquihires with @florianederer.bsky.social, @lugaricano.bsky.social, @igorletina.bsky.social, @imarinescu.bsky.social, Hans Zenger, Jonathan Kanter, and @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social at the @cepr.org www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zrS... (4/7)
youtube.com
AI Acquihires: Competition Risks, Talent Battles and Economic Spillovers
YouTube video by CEPR & VideoVox Economics
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Florian Ederer @florianederer.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Excited to moderate this panel on "AI Acquihires: Competition Risks, Talent Battles and Economic Spillovers" with the antitrust all-star team of Kanter, Garicano, Marinescu, Letina, and Zenger. Wednesday, 8 October 2025 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM (ET) Registration: cepr-org.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
cepr-org.zoom.us
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: AI Acquihires: Competition Risks, Talent Battles, and Economic Spillovers. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webina...
Antitrust agencies are increasingly confronted with “acquihires” of AI start-ups — yet most cases so far have been waved through under the banner of “uncertainty.” A decade ago, similar caution around...
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
How about this: whoever has an H1B and an employment contract in the US gets an automatic work permit in Europe. No bureaucracy, no nothing. US firms can simply tell their stranded workers they can work from one of their offices in Europe.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
Link: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68c3e8...
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
Very happy to see two of my papers cited in the recent CMA report on "Investment and competition over the business lifecycle." The report provides an excellent overview of the literature. Thanks to @jschneebacher.bsky.social and coauthors for preparing it!
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
A new article in the WSJ on reverse acquihires. The main point it makes is that one group that loses out in a reverse acquihire are the employees who are left behind. This will make it more difficult for future startups to attract employees. www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-r...
wsj.com
Big Tech Is Eating Itself in Talent War
The scramble by tech companies for top AI talent is using unorthodox methods that imperil Silicon Valley’s startup culture.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
I've heard from a few people that they use the same approach as you. To me, it appears not to be too much different from just sending the bullet points in the first place.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
There are two issues with this. One is that I don't know if I am reading the person's opinion or the chatgpt's opinion. The other is that the prompt is usually much shorter than the output, so that this practice leads to longer e-mails.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
I think I also feel like it is not really polite to send AI text to someone and then expect them to read it, especially since AI tends to write too much. I think I'd rather if the person sent me the prompt they used...
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
I used to love using em-dashes in my prose, but now that it has turned into a chatgtp "tell" I actively avoid it.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
A person sends you an e-mail and you notice that it was written by chatgpt. How do you react? I don't know why, but I tend to have an instinctive negative reaction to it.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
Additionally, theory can be a first, cheap test of whether a novel design idea is good and worthwhile to be tested empirically.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
But abstract *design* theorizing can be useful. Empirical work mostly examines institutions, policies and mechanisms that already exist and normally does not generate novel designs. Theory does.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Sources: - www.reuters.com/technology/m... - www.reuters.com/technology/a... - www.reuters.com/technology/a... - www.reuters.com/sustainabili... - www.reuters.com/business/goo...
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Regarding economic consequences and possible policy implications of acquihires, I have a recent paper (doi.org/10.1016/j.eu...) as do Bar-Isaac, Johnson and Nocke (pubsonline.informs.org/doi/10.1287/...). But there is much that we still don't know and I hope to see more work on the topic!
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Compensating equity holders is important for a number of reasons, from eliminating future litigation risk to maintaining good reputation with VCs.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
If the buyers were not worried about antitrust scrutiny then they would probably go for a straight acquisition (as big tech did many times in the past before the authorities started scrutinizing startup acquisitions). This is simpler and cleaner for all parties involved.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
I think the deals are structured in this way for two reasons: 1) avoiding antitrust scrutiny and 2) compensating startup's equity holders.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
In the Meta/Scale AI deal, Meta acquired a minority stake in the startup. Again, this can make economic sense for Meta even if, after key talent has moved to Meta, what remains of the startup is worth very little.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
A "reverse acquihire" only lacks 2), which is irrelevant as the only thing left is a husk of the original startup anyway. In all but the Meta/Scale AI deal, the equity holders were compensated via a tech licensing deal. Whether the tech is worth anything is beside the point.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
"Reverse acquihire" is really a misnomer -- a "faux acquihire" would be better. A traditional acquihire has 3 elements: 1) transfer of talent from the startup to the buyer, 2) acquisition and shutdown of the startup, and 3) compensation of startup's equity holders.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
A thread on "reverse acquihires" in the AI space. Reverse acquihires are characterized by two things: 1) the buyer takes over the most important/talented employees and 2) the buyer pays a hefty sum to the target firm via a side deal. They are becoming common in the AI space:
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
If you are interested in the economics of talent hoarding, @jmbenkert.bsky.social, Shuo Liu and I have a paper about it that was just accepted at the European Economic Review (and which is open access): doi.org/10.1016/j.eu... 2/2
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
One thing I have not seen mentioned in the discussion about compensation packages for AI engineers is that firms are willing to pay not just for what value those employees bring to them, but also for the value that their competitors lose. In a sense, firms are partly trying to *hoard AI talent* 1/2
bloomberg.com
Meta Poached Apple’s Pang With Pay Package Over $200 Million
Meta Platforms Inc. has made unusually high compensation offers to new members of its “superintelligence” team — including a more than $200 million package for a former Apple Inc. distinguished engine...
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Ben Golub @bengolub.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
I've been working on a new tool, Refine, to make scholars more productive. If you're interested in being among the very first to try the beta, please read on. Refine leverages the best current AI models to draw your attention to potential errors and clarity issues in research paper drafts. 1/
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
Gems you find while reading about past inducement prizes/innovation contests: in 1936, Polish mathematician Stanisław Mazur offered a live goose to whoever solved one mathematical problem involving Banach spaces. 37 years later, Swedish mathematician Per Enflo got the goose.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
PSA: The special topic of this year's South Carolina Game Theory Conference is *Advances in Contest Theory*. The conference takes place on August 6-7, 2025 and the application deadline is May 16, 2025. Link: sites.google.com/view/thescgt...
sites.google.com
TheSCGTConference2025
South Carolina Game Theory Conference
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Jörg Oechssler @oechssler.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
I have a postdoc position in Behavioral/Experimental Economics available for 6 years, at the oldest university in Germany in beautiful Heidelberg. Please forward to anyone who might be interested! #EconJobs #AcademicJobs #HigherEd #Economics #JobAlert
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
One of the best conferences for those working on contests is going to Australia this year! Submission deadline is June 1, 2025 and more info can be found here: www.rmit.edu.au/about/school...
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
Hey, Jon Stewart, uncalled-for!
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
So it seems that my colleague Jean-Michel Benkert is too modest to mention it himself, but I think it is a great thing that he has accepted to be an arXiv moderator for economics. Thanks for providing the public good, @jmbenkert.bsky.social!
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 05/01/2025
Letzten Monat hielt Edward Glaeser an der Universität Bern einen Vortrag zum Thema «Cities and Infrastructure». Dieses Interview mit ihm erörtert die wichtigsten Themen seines Vortrags. www.derbund.ch/uni-bern-us-...
derbund.ch
Wohnen in der Stadt: «Bauen ist die einzige Medizin, um der Wohnungsnot zu begegnen»
Bezahlbare Wohnungen gebe es in jenen US-Städten, die den Wohnungsmarkt am wenigsten regulierten, sagt Ökonom Edward Glaeser.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
Will definitely add it to the list, as soon as more info is available.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
If you use the "download calendar" function, please check that everything was imported correctly; and if you notice any problems, please let me know.
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
Planning your 2025 economics conference schedule? I've updated my list of general interest, IO, and theory conferences: www.igorletina.com/conferences.... New this year: you can generate a calendar file 📅 to easily track dates and submission deadlines of selected conferences. #econsky
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Igor Letina @igorletina.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
The deadline for applications is January 31, 2025.
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Carlo Reggiani @mikybartoli.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
👇👇👇
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