How might corporate governance shape business decisions, trust, and society at large? In this special student-hosted episode of Is Business Broken?, BU Questrom Undergrad Grant Corbett speaks with BU Questrom Visiting Professor Roy Shapira.

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Today, we're diving into a fascinating corner of self-regulation—one that doesn't rely on formal rules or legal protections, but instead on norms. In industries like fashion and fine dining, there are powerful unspoken rules: don’t copy, don’t steal—even when you legally can.
What does it take to sustain trust and collaboration when regulation isn’t there to keep everyone in line?
To discuss, host Curt Nickisch invites to the show Giada Di Stefano, a professor of strategy at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy; and Andy King, Allen and Kelli Questrom Professor in Strategy & Innovation at BU Questrom.

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Last week's show introduced self-regulation, the practice of businesses, setting their own guardrails without government, but what are the limits to private actors policing themselves?
At what point should government intervene in the public interest, and also companies getting together to set their own rules? When does that cross into antitrust territory and become collusion? Host Curt Nickisch speaks to BU Questrom Professor Tim Simcoe and Jonathan Kanter, former Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division in the Biden Administration.

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What happens when business regulates itself, without government? Enter self regulation. Host Curt Nickisch speaks to BU Questrom Professors Andy King and Tim Simcoe about when self regulation works, when it doesn't, and what's at stake for society.

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Exciting news! Is Business Broken? has been nominated for a Signal Award in the Business category!

We couldn't be more proud of all of our listeners who helped make this possible. And with this nomination, we're up for a Listener's Choice award.

We’d be so grateful if you’d take a moment to vote for us: Please vote here.

Thank you so much!

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AI promises massive gains in productivity and a flourishing of goods and services—but also poses consequences for jobs, corporate power, and society. There will be winners and losers. Today, we're asking: How do we strike the balance between innovation and safety, between competition and concentration, between policy and industry regulation?
At a live event as part of the WBUR Festival, host Curt Nickisch speaks to:
Divya Sridhar - Vice President, Global Privacy Division & Privacy Operations, BBB National Programs
Asu Ozdaglar - Department Head, MIT Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Deputy Dean, MIT Schwarzman College of Computing
Andrei Hagiu – Professor of Information Systems, Boston University Questrom School of Business
Sen. Barry Finegold - State Senator, Essex and Middlesex Counties, MA

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One of the goals of the Mehrotra Institute is to educate, not just through research or in the classroom, but by creating real-world learning opportunities.
So, for this episode, we're handing the mic to student host Grant Corbett, who chats with JD Chesloff, President & CEO of the Massachusetts Business Round Table about how the current political environment is impacting businesses on the ground. Special thanks to the Raif Dinçkök Student Forum at the Mehrotra Institute for supporting this episode.

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How should companies balance short-term pressures with long-term interests?
Can they do both—and if so, how?

That’s the question we posed at a live event that BU Questrom held in April.

Host Curt Nickisch spoke to Stuart Hart, Professor in Residence at the University of Michigan’s Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise, and the author of Beyond Shareholder Primacy: Remaking Capitalism for a Sustainable Future; Anthony Allot, Board Chair and former CEO of Silgan Holdings Corporation; Aneliya Crawford, Head of ESG Advisory at UBS; and Andrew King, Allen and Kelli Questrom Professor in Strategy & Innovation at BU Questrom.

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Last episode introduced the concept of common ownership. That’s where major investors buy significant stakes across competing firms, which can lower competition, raise prices, and affect innovation. But what could be done about that? Is there a way to address these anti-competitive issues?

Host Curt Nickisch talks potential solutions with Florian Ederer, Allen and Kelli Questrom Professor in Markets, Public Policy & Law at BU Questrom; Glen Weyl, founder of the RadicalxChange Foundation and the Plurality Institute;

and Fiona Scott Morton, Theodore Nierenberg Professor of Economics at the Yale School of Management.

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When the same big investors buy stakes in multiple competing companies, are those firms still competitors? When they practically have the same owner, do they set their prices differently? Do they lose their drive to innovate?

This is not a thought experiment. It’s real and widespread—a phenomenon known as common ownership. Is common ownership just smart investing, or is it reducing competition and driving up costs? And what, if anything, should be done about it?

To explain, host Curt Nickisch speaks to Florian Ederer, Allen and Kelli Questrom Professor in Markets, Public Policy & Law at BU Questrom.

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