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The Political and Economic Roots of Corporate Political Activity

Massengill, William
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1553961091240596

Abstract Details

2019, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Political Science.
Scholars, journalists, and pundits frequently bemoan the rising involvement of large corporations in American politics. But the ability of firms to influence policymakers often depends on features of their political and economic environments, as well as internal constraints, such as organizational structure and business decisions. Unfortunately, however, we know relatively little about how some of the most important recent political and economic trends affect firm political decisions. This dissertation uses novel data to examine how two of these trends - party polarization in American legislatures and economic concentration through corporate mergers and acquisitions - affect the lobbying efforts and PAC contributions of large corporations. I find that, in some ways, each of these trends increases corporate political involvement. Specifically, corporations lobby more, and harder, as legislatures polarize, but they do so primarily in response to rising liberalism among Democrats. I also find that corporate acquisitions prompt purchasers to become more politically engaged. After acquiring a large firm (i.e., a target firm), purchasers direct PAC contributions to more candidates, many of whom were supported by the target prior to the acquisition. In addition, purchasers increase their lobbying efforts to some extent: they hire more lobbyists and lobby on more bills. These results suggest that the rising economic power of large firms has facilitated their increasingly intense involvement in American politics. In acquiring other firms, purchasers obtain political as well as economic resources. And they appear to use these resources to defend their interests against increasingly liberal Democrats.
William Minozzi (Committee Co-Chair)
John Wright (Committee Co-Chair)
Janet Box-Steffensmeier (Committee Member)
Gregory Caldeira (Committee Member)
Vladimir Kogan (Committee Member)
174 p.
Political Science
Polarization; legislative politics; lobbying; campaign contributions; corporations; mergers and acquisitions

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Massengill, W. (2019). The Political and Economic Roots of Corporate Political Activity [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1553961091240596

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Massengill, William. The Political and Economic Roots of Corporate Political Activity. 2019. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1553961091240596.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Massengill, William. "The Political and Economic Roots of Corporate Political Activity." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1553961091240596

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1553961091240596
811
© 2019, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.