The More You Give, the More You Get? The Impact of Corporate Political Activity on the Value of Government Contracts

2017 ◽  
Vol 122 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Hadani ◽  
Natasha Munshi ◽  
Kim Clark
Keyword(s):  
Political Activity ◽  
Government Contracts ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
The Impact

Corporate Political Activity and Regulatory Capture: How Some Companies Blunt the Knife of Socially Oriented Investor Activism

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 2064-2093 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Hadani ◽  
Jonathan P. Doh ◽  
Marguerite A. Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Shareholder Activism ◽  
Securities And Exchange Commission ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Social Movement Organizations ◽  
Regulatory Capture ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
Nonmarket Strategy ◽  
Labor Policies ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Impact

Socially oriented shareholder activism is an increasingly important mechanism through which social movement organizations seek to influence the private sector by exerting pressure on corporate activities in areas such as human rights, environmental protection, and labor policies. This activism challenges the status quo of targeted firms and potentially their institutional field, disrupting “business as usual” and often drawing negative attention to the firms. We theorize that some firms might use corporate political activity (CPA) as an indirect, nonmarket strategy aimed at regulatory capture to reduce the impact of such disruptions. We focus on one popular avenue of shareholder activism—the proxy proposal mechanism—and the role the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) plays in allowing omission of socially oriented shareholder proposals from the proxy ballot. Using two distinct data sources, we find evidence that for S&P 500 firms, the SEC allows for the omission of the proposals from proxy ballots more frequently for those firms more active in CPA. These findings inform the growing scholarship on socially oriented activism as well as suggest the indirect influence of CPA on government agency decision making.

scholarly journals Benchmarking Food and Beverage Companies on Obesity Prevention and Nutrition Policies: Evaluation of the BIA-Obesity Australia Initiative, 2017-2019

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ella Robinson ◽  
Miranda R. Blake ◽  
Gary Sacks
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Government Regulation ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
Nutrition Policies ◽  
Food And Beverage ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Accountability Initiatives ◽  
Policies And Practices

Background: The potential role of the food and beverage industry in addressing diet-related disease is much debated, particularly amidst evidence of the targeted strategies, including voluntary self-regulation, used by the industry to influence policy in their favour. At the same time, the need for more comprehensive action to address unhealthy diets has led to a focus on increasing the accountability of different stakeholders. However, there has been limited evaluation of the impact of accountability initiatives on food and beverage company policies and practices. This study evaluated the impact of the BIA-Obesity (Business Impact Assessment – Obesity and population nutrition) Australia Initiative that benchmarked major Australian food and beverage companies on their nutrition-related policies. Methods: Evaluation was conducted against the pre-specified logic model for BIA-Obesity and established frameworks for analysing organisational change and corporate political activity. Outcomes evaluated included company engagement with the Initiative, level of media coverage, and impact of the Initiative on company policies and practices based on the perspectives of company representatives. A mixed methods design was employed, including surveys and in-depth interviews with company representatives, and media reports. Results: Approximately half of invited companies participated in the evaluation of the BIA-Obesity Australia Initiative. A number of company representatives indicated that the Initiative had influenced their company’s nutrition policies, strategies, and disclosure practices, and had raised their company’s awareness of the importance of addressing nutrition issues. Conclusion: Company representatives perceive benchmarking and accountability initiatives as helpful for provoking improvements in nutrition-related policies and practices in their companies. However, the benefits of these initiatives need to be assessed in the context of the broader political and economic environment. Whilst the focus of accountability initiatives, such as BIA-Obesity, are on industry self-regulation efforts, they can also play an important role in drawing attention to the need for increased government regulation.

scholarly journals Aligning to disadvantage: How corporate political activity and strategic homophily create path dependence in the firm

2020 ◽  
pp. 001872672090892
Author(s):  
Andrew Perchard ◽  
Niall G MacKenzie
Keyword(s):  
Path Dependence ◽  
Business History ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Environmental Scanning ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
Government Relations ◽  
Organizational Behaviour ◽  
Lock In ◽  
Historical Methods ◽  
The Impact

To what extent should firms get close to government for competitive advantage? What happens if they get too close? In this article we explore how corporate political activity inculcated strategic homophily in leading UK aluminium producer, the British Aluminium Company Ltd, resulting in its path dependence and eventual lock-in. The article makes three main contributions: a longitudinal study of corporate political activity and strategic homophily revealing their organizational manifestations and detailed understanding of certain mechanisms of path dependence; articulating the value of historical methods and perspectives to exploring organizational path dependence; and exploring the impact that prolonged business-government relations can have on the organizational behaviour and strategic outlook of the firm with implications for TMT selection and environmental scanning. In so doing it responds to calls for firms to align market positions with political activity, as well as those for the recognition of the value of business history in better understanding the links between corporate political activity and firm performance. It further elucidates the longer-term consequences of strategic homophily, which has to date focused on the early stages of venture formation.

Blacklisted Businesses

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 584-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary-Hunter McDonnell ◽  
Timothy Werner
Keyword(s):  
Social Movement ◽  
Government Procurement ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
Congressional Hearings ◽  
Social Activists ◽  
Public Protest ◽  
The Status ◽  
Procurement Contracts ◽  
The Impact

This paper explores whether and how social activists’ challenges affect politicians’ willingness to associate with targeted firms. We study the effect of public protest on corporate political activity using a unique database that allows us to analyze empirically the impact of social movement boycotts on three proxies for associations with political stakeholders: the proportion of campaign contributions that are rejected, the number of times a firm is invited to give testimony in congressional hearings, and the number of government procurement contracts awarded to a firm. We show that boycotts lead to significant increases in the proportion of refunded contributions, as well as decreases in invited congressional appearances and awarded government contracts. These results highlight the importance of considering how a firm’s sociopolitical environment shapes the receptivity of critical non-market stakeholders. We supplement this analysis by drawing from social movement theory to extrapolate and test three key mechanisms that moderate the extent to which activists’ challenges effectively disrupt corporate political activity: the media attention a boycott attracts, the political salience of the contested issue, and the status of the targeted firm.

A meta-analysis of the impact of corporate political activity on firm outcomes

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 (1) ◽  
pp. 12937
Author(s):  
Michael Hadani ◽  
Nicolas M Dahan ◽  
Jean-Philippe Bonardi
Keyword(s):  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
Firm Outcomes ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Public health and the ultra-processed food and drink products industry: corporate political activity of major transnationals in Latin America and the Caribbean

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 1898-1908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mélissa Mialon ◽  
Fabio da Silva Gomes
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Processed Food ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Food And Drink ◽  
The Impact

AbstractObjectiveTo identify examples of the ‘corporate political activity’ (CPA) of the industry producing and selling ultra-processed food and drink products (UPP) in Latin America and the Caribbean.DesignSearches were conducted on the national websites and social media accounts of large industry actors. Coding was deductive and based on a framework for classifying the CPA of the food industry.SettingFifteen countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.ParticipantsTwelve members of the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA) and major trade associations and chambers of commerce in the region.ResultsDuring the current pilot study, more than 200 examples of CPA were found in Latin America and the Caribbean. The UPP industry lobbied governments during the development of national health policies. UPP companies tried to build alliances with health professionals, but also with communities where they operated and with policy makers. In addition, the UPP industry fought against regulation in court and proposed weaker alternatives to public health policies, such as self-regulation.ConclusionsFood systems in low- and middle-income countries, including in Latin America and the Caribbean, are increasingly penetrated by the UPP industry. These countries are at risk of being influenced by the CPA strategies described in the present study. There is a need to further identify, monitor and evaluate the impact of these CPA strategies on public health policies and public opinion in the region, in order to develop mechanisms to effectively prevent such interference.

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