S.J.D. Candidate
mbaruhmdiegues at sjd.law.harvard.edu
Dissertation
Acquiring Competition Away
My dissertation investigates whether firms go public, at least in part, to facilitate the acquisition of potential rivals. Corporate law and finance literature has long documented M&A financing as a relevant motivation for public offerings; however, despite the concomitant rise in merger activity and corporate concentration, no study has yet investigated whether there is a link between these two factors and a firm’s listing decision. My research proposes that an underlying motivation for public offerings may lie in preserving the privileged positions of industrial incumbents through the acquisition of promising new businesses—which could, over time, soften competitive pressures. This phenomenon could also partially explain the growing pull of U.S. stock markets in cross-border transactions. Innovative firms from around the world increasingly turn to U.S. markets for funding, acquisitions, or even incorporations and primary listings. If acquiring competitors is one of the motives for going public, this trend could contribute to rising concentration in U.S. markets not only through the acquisition of domestic rivals, but also of foreign competitors. This project therefore contributes to the literature on the motives for going public—including, at times, less orthodox ones such as using public offerings to curb competition.
Fields of Research and Supervisors
- The Political Economy of Corporate Governance with Professor Mark Roe, Harvard Law School, Principal Faculty Supervisor
- Corporate Finance and Capital Formation with Professor Howell Jackson, Harvard Law School
- Corporate Law in the Global South with Professor Mariana Pargendler, Harvard Law School
- Merger Control in Public Markets with Professor Rebecca Haw Allensworth, Vanderbilt Law School
Additional Research Interests
- Corporate Governance
- Securities Regulation
- Antitrust
- Law and Development
Education
- Harvard Law School, S.J.D. Candidate 2026 – Present
- University of São Paulo, Ph.D. Candidate 2023 – Present
- Harvard Law School, LL.M. Program 2025-2026 (requirements fulfilled, degree waived)
- University of São Paulo, Bacharel em Direito (J.D. equivalent), 2023
Academic Appointments and Fellowships
- Lemann Fellow, 2025-2026
- Gammon Fellow, 2025-2026
- Instituto Ling Fellow, 2025-2026
Additional Information
- Recipient of the Morgan and Helen Chu Prize (2026), awarded to the two graduating LL.M. students with the highest grade point averages.
- Languages: English, Portuguese, French, Spanish
Last Updated: June 12, 2026