Crouching tiger, hidden dragons

A new IIPP report reveals how 10-K disclosure rules help Big Tech conceal market power and expand platform dominance.

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UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, policy report no. 2021/04

This new report finds that the main annual financial reporting framework imposed by the US regulators on ‘Big Tech’ firms (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft) is not fit for purpose. The Security and Exchange Commission’s annual ‘10-K’ disclosure reporting instead helps ‘Big Tech’ companies conceal market power, increase profit margins, and expand their platforms’ dominance. A collaboration between the authors, IIPP economists Ilan Strauss, Mariana Mazzucato and Josh Ryan-Collins and Silicon Valley entrepreneur and Big Tech reformer Tim O’Reilly, provide their recommendations within the report. 

Authors

• Ilan Strauss | Research Associate, UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
• Tim O'Reilly | Founder and CEO, O’Reilly Media; Visiting Professor of Practice, UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
• Mariana Mazzucato | Director, and Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value, UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
• Josh Ryan-Collins | Head of Finance and Macroeconomics, UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose

Reference

Strauss, I., O’Reilly, T., Mazzucato, M. and Ryan-Collins, J. (2021). Crouching tiger, hidden dragons: how 10-K disclosure rules help Big Tech conceal market power and expand platform dominance. UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, IIPP Policy Report No. 2021/04. Available at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/public-purpose/2021-04