Does Private Equity Create or Extract Value?

To its defenders, private equity is a way to make companies more efficient and encourage a healthy economy. To its skeptics, PE is a way for investors to lower costs and quality, often at the expense of customers or other stakeholders. Does PE create or extract value? On this episode of The Big Question, Chicago Booth’s Steve Kaplan and Constantine Yannelis and the Vistria Group’s Amy Christensen discuss the outcomes of private-equity ownership for companies and the economy in general.