Helping the Casualties of Creative Destruction: Corporate Takeovers and the Politics of Worker Dislocation

Abstract

This Article’s thesis is that society’s responses to takeover dislocation have been misguided. For a variety of reasons, society has sought to ease takeover dislocation by discouraging takeovers, a process which has only served to protect corporate executives (by entrenching them in power) and not the lower-level employees who need protection most. The Article contends that takeover-related dislocation is no different from other forms of dislocation. It suggests that if policymakers are truly concerned about such dislocation, they should focus less on regulating takeovers and more on addressing issues of worker dislocation directly, such as by giving workers more power to influence the allocation of corporate resources or by affording workers more benefits and assistance during periods of dislocation.

Keywords: takeovers, worker dislocation, unemployment, corporation law

JEL Classification: K22